Joined Forces for Ultra-Wide Cooperation Project... Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam Visit National Assembly 'Side by Side' to Secure Next Year's State Budget

Gyeongnam Provincial Government. / Photo by Se-ryeong Lee ryeong@

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] The heads of planning and coordination offices of Gyeongsangnam-do, Busan, and Ulsan visited the National Assembly together on the 18th.

According to Gyeongnam Province, the heads of planning and coordination offices visited the National Assembly on this day to request the securing of next year's national budget for the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) super-regional cooperation project.

Since the launch of the Bu-Ul-Gyeong super-regional economic alliance, the three local governments agreed on the necessity of efforts to secure national funds in preparation for the National Assembly budget review, as 19 projects worth 208.2 billion KRW, part of the first phase of the Bu-Ul-Gyeong super-regional development plan's leading projects, were reflected in the government proposal.

Accordingly, on October 31, they formed a national budget response team and agreed to work together.

The national budget response team consists of the economic vice governors, vice mayors, heads of planning and coordination offices, and national budget departments of the three cities and provinces.

During this visit to the National Assembly, the response team will meet with Woo Won-sik, chairman of the Budget and Accounts Committee, Lee Cheol-gyu and Park Jeong, secretaries of the Budget and Accounts Committee, as well as Jeong Jeom-sik and Kim Doo-kwan, members of the Budget and Accounts Committee subcommittee representing the Gyeongnam constituency.

They plan to request full support for the Bu-Ul-Gyeong cooperation projects and key cooperation projects among the leading projects that have not yet been reflected.

They will mainly propose projects currently undergoing preliminary procedures such as ministry consultations and pre-feasibility studies, including ▲additional introduction of electric trains between Bujeon and Masan ▲creation of an AI autonomous manufacturing ecosystem in the Yeongnam region ▲construction of the Busan-Yangsan-Ulsan metropolitan railway ▲establishment of the Bu-Ul-Gyeong super-regional industry-academia convergence district.

The response team plans to request budgets for the service contracts and procedural promotion of these projects.

Ha Jong-mok, head of the planning and coordination office, said, “Although the Bu-Ul-Gyeong super-regional cooperation project includes projects that each city and province has been promoting, we believe that working together can create much greater synergy. We will continue to ensure the securing of the national budget for the first phase leading projects in 2023 and cooperate for the mutual development of Bu-Ul-Gyeong as well as the practical achievements of the Bu-Ul-Gyeong super-regional economic alliance.”

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