Bang Gi-seon, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, "Full-scale Promotion of Public Institution Relocation to Provinces"

MoEF, Holds '2022 Si·Do Economic Council' Meeting

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] The government is set to actively relocate public institutions to local areas.

Bang Ki-seon, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, stated at the '2022 City and Province Economic Council' held at the Government Seoul Office on the 20th, "Balanced national development is an important task to expand the growth potential of our economy." The council was organized to share the government's policy direction for realizing the local era, a national agenda of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, and to revitalize the regional economy.

Vice Minister Bang emphasized the government's commitment to relocating public institutions to local areas. He said, "The government has presented the vision of a local era where everyone enjoys equal opportunities regardless of where they live, to resolve the concentration in the metropolitan area and promote regional development," adding, "To strengthen the foundation for regional innovative growth and create quality jobs, we plan to introduce opportunity development zones and actively promote the relocation of public institutions to local areas."

The government also plans to strengthen the role of local governments to expand regional job projects. Vice Minister Bang stated, "To enhance regional economic vitality, it is important to create quality jobs through customized employment policies," and added, "Accordingly, the government will increase investment in vocational training, startup support, and strengthen the role of local governments in job projects." He continued, "Since economic contraction and employment slowdown are expected next year, we will respond actively by promptly executing the job budget and expanding safety nets."

Vice Minister Bang also mentioned measures to address population decline. Earlier, the government enacted the 'Special Act on Support for Population Declining Areas' in June this year, which will be implemented in January next year. He said, "The Special Act on Support for Population Declining Areas plans to provide special measures in various fields such as childcare, education, medical care, and housing," adding, "As a catalyst to overcome the crisis of regional extinction, we have been supporting the Local Extinction Response Fund, worth about 1 trillion won annually, to population declining areas since this year." He further stated, "The Hometown Love Donation System, which will be implemented from next year, is expected to help revitalize the regional economy by expanding local finances through voluntary individual donations and providing local specialties as return gifts."

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