"Selected Projects Essential for Residents" ... Gyeongnam Province's 2nd Supplementary Budget at 986.5 Billion Won

Final Approval on the 26th After Provincial Assembly Review

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, is giving a proposal explanation regarding the 2nd supplementary budget at the Gyeongnam Provincial Council on the 14th.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Park Wansu, Governor of Gyeongsangnam-do, visited the Gyeongsangnam-do Provincial Council on the 14th to submit the 2nd supplementary budget proposal.

Gyeongsangnam-do announced that it has prepared a supplementary budget of 986.5 billion KRW to recover the local economy, ensure residents' safety, and improve their quality of life, bringing the total budget size to 12.8694 trillion KRW including this supplementary budget.

According to the province, this supplementary budget mainly focuses on essential projects to realize the 8th term provincial administration tasks, such as timely execution of livelihood stabilization support projects reflecting the government supplementary budget, early establishment of the Aerospace Agency, activation of youth startups, and expansion of local roads.

Among them, early repayment of regional development fund loans for sound fiscal management and preparation of safety and health facilities and equipment to prevent major industrial accidents were prioritized.

The 2nd supplementary budget proposal of Gyeongsangnam-do for 2022 consists of ▲623 billion KRW for supporting the recovery of the livelihood economy such as support for small and medium-sized enterprises and job expansion ▲20.3 billion KRW for upgrading core industries and fostering new growth industries ▲376.7 billion KRW for demand-centered welfare response and strengthening residents' health and medical systems ▲112.1 billion KRW for disaster response and enhancing safe living ▲77.8 billion KRW for strengthening support for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and livestock.

Support for livelihood economy recovery includes 8.4 billion KRW for interest subsidies on small and medium-sized enterprise management stabilization funds, 600 million KRW for small and medium-sized enterprise export and design development support, 3.6 billion KRW for issuing local love gift certificates in cities and counties, and 4.7 billion KRW for contributions to the Gyeongnam Credit Guarantee Foundation to support special guarantees for small business owners.

It also includes income stabilization funds for taxi and bus drivers, support for senior citizen jobs and social activities, subsidies for new hires in startup companies, and operation of the Life Reboot Support Center to assist middle-aged reemployment.

For upgrading core industries and fostering new growth industries, budgets of 8.8 billion KRW for supporting relocation and rearrangement of local win-win type companies' industrial complexes, 5.1 billion KRW for establishing hydrogen charging stations for freight vehicles, and 1.5 billion KRW for investment subsidies for companies returning to Korea are planned.

An additional 1.2 billion KRW is allocated for building an integrated performance evaluation base for large electric hydrogen commercial vehicles, 900 million KRW for virtual-based future car parts upgrading, 500 million KRW for training shipbuilding production technology personnel, and 300 million KRW for establishing a platform to foster the non-face-to-face biomedical medical device industry.

Budgets are also allocated for new growth industries preparing for the 4th Industrial Revolution, including 800 million KRW for AI convergence regional specialized industry support, 200 million KRW for establishing a refurbished robot center for used robots, 200 million KRW for metaverse platform development support, and 200 million KRW for hosting the governor's personal air vehicle (PAV) and drone competition.

For COVID-19 quarantine support, 124.6 billion KRW is allocated for living support expenses for isolated individuals, 67.5 billion KRW for emergency livelihood stabilization funds for low-income households, 19.8 billion KRW for basic pensions, 8.5 billion KRW for childcare fees for ages 0-2, and 6.2 billion KRW for emergency welfare for crisis families.

Support for disabled helpers includes 1.6 billion KRW, 1.2 billion KRW for diapers and formula for low-income families, 1 billion KRW for operating nursing facilities, 600 million KRW for interest subsidies on housing loans for newlyweds, and 500 million KRW for establishing child protection specialized agencies.

To respond to the re-spreading concerns of COVID-19, separate budgets are set aside: 110.9 billion KRW for treatment costs of confirmed cases, 10.9 billion KRW for funeral expenses for the deceased, 700 million KRW for operating 365 safe wards, and 500 million KRW for installing protective partitions in taxis for COVID-19 response. Additionally, 400 million KRW each is planned for infertility treatment costs and support for emergency medical institutions in vulnerable areas.

For safety response in disaster-vulnerable areas, 59.4 billion KRW will be used for construction and expansion of local roads, 12 billion KRW for smart city development, 7 billion KRW for local river maintenance, 6.2 billion KRW for road facility maintenance, and 4 billion KRW for disaster risk zone maintenance.

Budgets will also increase for promoting the Serious Accident Punishment Act, including consulting for preventing major industrial accidents targeting small and medium-sized enterprises, reinforcing safety facilities, building an integrated smart city safety network platform, creating safe alleys using CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) techniques, establishing an integrated disaster warning and alert platform, building a smart policing big data platform center, and maintaining water supply networks.

Financial support will be provided for price stabilization due to fertilizer price surges, installation of Smart Farm Innovation Valley facilities, creation of smart livestock ICT pilot complexes, long-term rental agricultural machinery support, and establishment of youth rural settlements.

Support has also been strengthened for improving living conditions in farming and fishing villages and increasing farmers' and fishermen's incomes through projects such as the Fishermen's New Deal 300 project, support for fishing fuel costs due to rising oil prices, clean fishing ground regeneration projects including collection of contaminated sediments, pilot projects for revitalizing fishing villages, pine wilt disease control, and forest management projects.

Governor Park said in his proposal explanation, "The provincial council and provincial office must unite with one heart for the residents to restore Gyeongnam's status," and added, "We will consult in advance on important provincial matters to gather wisdom for Gyeongnam's re-leap."

He continued, "This supplementary budget is allocated to projects necessary for stabilizing the livelihood economy and residents' welfare," and said, "We will thoroughly prepare in advance to promptly execute the budget where it is most needed and do our best to create a newly advancing and vibrant Gyeongnam."

The supplementary budget proposal submitted by Governor Park on this day is scheduled to be finalized on the 26th after deliberation by the 397th Provincial Council session starting on July 14.

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