Gwangyang City Secures 540 Billion Won in 2023 Government Budget Proposal

Major Current Projects Largely Included in Government Budget Proposal, Increased by 12.4 Billion Won Compared to Last Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] Gwangyang City, Jeollanam-do announced that it secured 540 billion KRW in national funds, reflecting numerous regional projects such as future new growth industries in the 2023 government budget proposal announced after the Cabinet meeting on August 30. This amount represents an increase of 12.4 billion KRW (5%) compared to last year.

This achievement by Gwangyang City is analyzed to be the result of active efforts by Mayor Jeong In-hwa and all public officials to discover projects aligned with government policies and their focused visits to central government ministries and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, despite the difficult situation of securing government budgets under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's fiscal austerity policy.

Major new projects include the establishment of a hydrogen ecosystem from production to utilization within the city: ▲Gwangyang City Hydrogen Pilot City Creation Project with a design budget of 500 million KRW (total 40 billion KRW), which is a policy to use hydrogen linked to housing, transportation, and regional specialized industries. The project period is until 2025.

For the maintenance of the frequently flooded area in Geumho-dong: ▲Gwangyang Geumho Natural Disaster Risk Improvement District Maintenance Project with a design budget of 2 billion KRW (total 37.4 billion KRW), which involves installing one drainage pumping station, approximately 2,000 meters of flood walls, and 9,800 meters of overflow prevention structures. The project period is until 2026.

▲Gwangyang Taein Industrial Complex Public Wastewater Treatment Facility Maintenance Project with a design budget of 500 million KRW (total 8 billion KRW) aims to prevent water pollution in the Gwangyang Bay area by refurbishing 8 km of aging wastewater pipelines, maintaining 123 manholes, and establishing a pipeline flow monitoring system. The project period is until 2025.

▲Gwangyang-eup East-West Stream Confluence Urban Ecological Axis Restoration Project with a design budget of 400 million KRW (total 8 billion KRW) involves restoring wetlands on riverbed land, creating ecological experience centers and trails. Located at the confluence of the East and West streams in Gwangyang-eup, it is expected to restore natural ecological functions and habitats for wild flora and fauna. The project period is until 2025.

▲Aging Sewer Pipeline Maintenance Project with a design budget of 600 million KRW (total 10 billion KRW) will establish public sewer pipelines in unserved areas such as Bonggang and Okryong sewage treatment zones and refurbish 4 km of aging stormwater pipelines in Gwangyang-eup, contributing to a pleasant living environment for citizens. The project period is until 2025.

Ongoing projects include those aimed at building efficient, safe, and eco-friendly ports: ▲Gwangyang Port (Phase 3-2) Smart Port Automation Construction Project with 45.3 billion KRW (total 691.5 billion KRW), ▲Support for Expansion of Gwangyang Port Hinterland Complex with 6.2 billion KRW (total 99.2 billion KRW), ▲Development of Gwangyang Port North Hinterland Complex with 1 billion KRW (total 31 billion KRW), and ▲Expansion and Paving of Gwangyang Port Hinterland Road with 2 billion KRW (total 22.9 billion KRW), all expected to contribute to port competitiveness.

▲Eco-friendly Secondary Battery Recycling Pilot Construction Project with 4 billion KRW (total 23.3 billion KRW) will establish technology development and testing evaluation systems for secondary battery recycling, laying the foundation for a material and component industrial ecosystem in Gwangyang, where many secondary battery material companies are located, becoming a future growth engine industry.

▲Gwangyang National Industrial Complex Buffer Retention Facility Installation Project with 18.6 billion KRW (total 39 billion KRW) will maintain buffer retention facilities, transfer pumping stations, transfer pipelines, and emergency gates to contain accidental discharge and stormwater within the national industrial complex, preventing marine pollution accidents.

▲Namdo 2nd Bridge Construction Project with 2.5 billion KRW (total 19.8 billion KRW) is planned to build the Namdo 2nd Bridge connecting Daap-myeon Gosari and Hadong-gun Agyang-myeon.

The existing distance between the Seomjingang crossing bridges, Namdo Bridge and Seomjin Bridge, is 20 km, causing inconvenience due to long detours. The new bridge is expected to provide convenience for residents and actively respond to seasonal traffic demands such as the Maehwa Festival.

Additionally, projects including ▲Namhaean Southern Central Region Small and Medium Enterprise Training Center Construction with 1.2 billion KRW (total 30.4 billion KRW) for customized specialized training centers for SME workers were reflected as follows:

▲Gwangyang Public Science Museum Construction with 1.6 billion KRW (total 40 billion KRW)

▲Seomjingang Yeongho-nam Complex Transfer Park Creation with 4.2 billion KRW (total 18 billion KRW)

▲Expansion of Domestic Sewage System Project with 10.6 billion KRW (total 163.1 billion KRW)

▲Gwangyang Port Phase 3 Reclamation (Zone 1) Port Redevelopment Project with 3.9 billion KRW (total 566.9 billion KRW)

▲Urban Wind Path Forest Creation Project with 3 billion KRW (total 19 billion KRW)

▲Agricultural Small Business Complex Space Creation Project with 900 million KRW (total 16 billion KRW)

▲Gwangyang Bay Area Knowledge Industry Center Construction with 2.4 billion KRW (total 19.7 billion KRW)

Mayor Jeong In-hwa of Gwangyang City said, “Most of the pending projects proposed by Gwangyang City were reflected in the government budget proposal,” and added, “We will make every effort to secure national funds so that the ‘Gwangyang Port Yulchon Industrial Complex Connection Road Construction Project (total project cost 311.8 billion KRW),’ which was not reflected, can be included as much as possible during the National Assembly review process.”

Going forward, the city plans to persistently explain the projects to related National Assembly members and members of the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee starting in September, and visit the leadership of each political party to provide explanations and persuasion to support securing project funds.

Meanwhile, the city plans to make every effort to secure 64.7 billion KRW in provincial funds from Jeollanam-do by explaining the project feasibility during the Jeollanam-do budget review period in September.

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.k

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