Record Budget Investment This Year... Pohang-si, Gyeongbuk, Pours 120 Billion Won into Strengthening Agricultural Competitiveness

Focused Investment in Creating High-Value Agricultural Products and Revitalizing Rural Communities

Pohang City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yeo Jong-gu] Pohang City, Gyeongbuk, will invest a record-breaking budget of 122.1 billion KRW this year to secure agricultural competitiveness and create high added value in local agriculture.

The annual agriculture and rural budget of 122.1 billion KRW is the largest ever, representing a 10% increase from last year's main budget of 111.3 billion KRW.

This year, Pohang plans to focus investments on △ improving the quality of life for farmers and securing stability in agricultural management △ strengthening food security and low-carbon agricultural production competitiveness △ revitalizing agriculture and rural areas △ activating untact agri-food distribution and marketing △ improving living conditions such as cultural and welfare facilities in rural areas.

To enhance the quality of life for farmers, 11.4 billion KRW will be invested to establish the ‘Farmer and Fisherman Allowance’ system, providing 600,000 KRW annually per agricultural and fishery management entity via the Pohang Love Card.

Given the growing importance of low-carbon agriculture and food security after COVID-19, about 20 billion KRW will be invested in projects to strengthen the competitiveness of agriculture and livestock industries.

Starting with the ‘Pohang Rural New Vitality Plus’ project selected as a national government public offering project, 4 billion KRW will be invested in fostering young successor farmers, return-to-farm and return-to-village initiatives, rural workforce support, and rural childcare.

Additionally, 6 billion KRW will be invested to strengthen untact agri-food distribution and marketing in response to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. A one-stop shopping system will also be established to support export competitiveness and untact distribution of local agricultural products.

Using 15 billion KRW of general agricultural and fishery rural development project funds steadily secured through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs public offering projects, Pohang plans to dramatically improve living conditions in rural areas.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang said, “To enhance the competitiveness of Pohang agriculture, which has been stagnating due to aging agricultural workforce and rural population decline, we will develop new projects and prepare various support policies based on advanced industries.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.