Namwon-si Wins 'Presidential Award' at Local Finance Best Practice Presentation Contest

Published 29 Dec.2021 14:05(KST)

[Namwon=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jeong Young-gwon] Namwon City, Jeonbuk (Mayor Lee Hwan-joo) announced on the 29th that it won the Presidential Award at the ‘2021 Local Finance Best Practice Presentation Contest’ hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Held for the 14th time this year, the Local Finance Best Practice Presentation Contest was organized to share innovative ideas such as cases of reducing expenditures and increasing revenues to enhance local financial soundness and spread budget efficiency.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety selected 35 final awardees (8 metropolitan, 27 basic) through a judging committee composed of external experts in each field from among the cases submitted by 243 metropolitan and basic local governments nationwide.

Among them, the city was selected as one of the top 10 excellent cases (3 expenditure reduction, 5 revenue increase, 2 others) and, after the final evaluation through the announcement on the 23rd, received the prestigious Presidential Award along with an additional 500 million won in general grant tax as a financial incentive.

Namwon City’s excellent case in the expenditure reduction category was titled ‘From Flood Damage & COVID-19 Despair to Hope, a Successful Budget Reduction Case.’ It is a case where Namwon City, which suffered damage from record heavy rain last year, wisely overcame the dual hardships of COVID-19 quarantine and simultaneously reduced the budget.

Earlier, the city suffered 52 billion won in property damage due to the collapse of the Seomjin River embankment caused by last year’s heavy rain. To quickly recover from the damage and prevent COVID-19, the city established a ‘COVID-19 Strong Blockade Response Team’ within the Disaster Site Integrated Support Headquarters and thoroughly carried out quarantine activities to prevent a secondary disaster caused by COVID-19.

Additionally, the village chiefs were designated as ‘general managers’ to assess flood situations and report COVID-19 status, contributing to regional stabilization through successful quarantine and rapid damage recovery by cooperation between the public and private sectors even in crisis situations.

The case was highly evaluated for achieving a dual effect of saving a total budget of 5.2 billion won, including 3 billion won in costs borne by affected residents for free repair of submerged agricultural machinery and emergency recovery equipment rental fees, 1.1 billion won in goods purchase costs through donations of relief and quarantine supplies, and 800 million won in emergency recovery equipment rental fees through citizens’ talent donations and volunteer cooperation.

Mayor Lee Hwan-joo said, “This award is the result of the efforts of employees who worked hard on flood recovery and COVID-19 last year,” and added, “We ask that you continue to actively discover excellent cases not only in the budget field but also in various fields to make Namwon a financially sound and livable city.”