Naju-si Secures 368.7 Billion Won in Government Budget for Next Year... Momentum for Current Projects

[Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Naju City, Jeollanam-do, secured 368.7 billion won in government budget for next year, giving momentum to the promotion of major pending projects.

According to the city on the 27th, the government budget for next year, which passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 24th, reflected 368.7 billion won in national funds for 51 pending projects in energy new industries, residential environment and safety improvement, historical and cultural restoration and maintenance, tourism, and SOC sectors.

As the government officially adopted sound finance and expenditure restructuring as the budget formulation policy for next year, the competition for national funds was fiercer than ever. Nevertheless, Naju City focused on footwork sales toward the National Assembly and central government ministries.

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae, a former official of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, utilized his extensive experience in national finance and personal network to frequently visit the National Assembly and central ministries, consistently proposing the justification and necessity of pending projects aligned with national policy directions, resulting in valuable achievements.

In particular, although initially not reflected in the government budget proposal, new projects such as ‘Establishment of a Carbon Neutral Environmental Management System for the Entire Life Cycle of Electric Vehicles,’ ‘Construction of Yeongsan River Bicycle Path,’ ‘Restoration and Maintenance of Naju Eupseong, Gwana, and Hyanggyo,’ and ‘Establishment of Workplace Daycare Center by Korea Creative Content Agency’ were included during the National Assembly budget review process.

The city secured a large amount of national budget for pending projects to create a future advanced science city leading the national energy new industry.

A total of 54.6 billion won was reflected as new national budget projects: 1 billion won for ‘Establishment of a Carbon Neutral Environmental Management System for the Entire Life Cycle of Electric Vehicles’ (total project cost 45 billion won), 350 million won for ‘Next-generation Grid Center Construction’ (30 billion won), and 1.45 billion won for ‘Establishment of Utilization Base for 5G Radio Wave Application Services Below 60GHz Band’ (13.2 billion won).

Among these, the ‘Establishment of a Carbon Neutral Environmental Management System for the Entire Life Cycle of Electric Vehicles’ is a core pending project responding to international carbon emission regulations, expected to create synergy with the ‘Used Battery Recycling Industrialization Center’ located in the Innovation Industrial Complex.

Additionally, the city carefully secured budgets to activate the energy sector industry-academia-research cluster, including ongoing projects such as ‘Support for Korea Energy University Project’ 25 billion won, ‘Establishment of Energy New Material Industrialization Platform’ 5.6 billion won, ‘Construction of Superconducting Conductor Test Facility for Fusion Demonstration Reactor’ 4 billion won, ‘Development of Intelligent LVDC Core Technology’ 2.5 billion won, and ‘Establishment of Digital Transformation Infrastructure for Power Equipment’ 2.9 billion won.

Budgets for creating a premium innovation city and building disaster and safety infrastructure were also secured.

The city secured 7 billion won for the ‘Construction of Complex Innovation Center,’ the biggest long-cherished project in Bitgaram Innovation City, and 1.2 billion won for the new project ‘Establishment of Workplace Daycare Center by Korea Creative Content Agency.’

It also reflected 500 million won for the ‘Seji District Drainage Improvement Project’ (20.4 billion won), 10.9 billion won for ‘Maintenance of Disaster Risk Improvement Districts including Ichang Disaster Risk Area,’ and 17 billion won for ‘Sewerage Maintenance in Nampyeong-eup and Related Waterworks Projects,’ planning to establish a permanent disaster safety net.

The tourism activation project for the 8th local government term, utilizing the long-standing historical and cultural resources of Naju Old Town and the pristine ecological waterway of the Yeongsan River, also received a green light.

The city reflected 2 billion won for the core pledge project of the 8th local government term, ‘Maintenance of Yeongsan River Bicycle Path,’ and 3.35 billion won for the new project ‘Restoration and Maintenance of Naju Eupseong, Gwana, and Hyanggyo.’

It also included 4.7 billion won for ‘Construction of National Naju Museum Digital Complex Cultural Center,’ 200 million won for ‘Site Selection and Feasibility Study for National Mahan History and Culture Center Construction,’ and 1.5 billion won for ‘Preservation and Maintenance of Mahan Historical and Cultural Heritage’ (total 39 billion won), accelerating the development of tourist attractions based on the ancient Mahan culture in the Yeongsan River basin.

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, “Despite the tight fiscal policy and competition among local governments making budget acquisition difficult, this achievement is the result of continuously appealing the justification of project promotion logic to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, central ministries, and the National Assembly.”

He added, “Since the secured national budget is hard-earned, we will promptly promote pending projects to leap Naju into a future advanced science city based on energy new industries and a top destination for historical, cultural, and ecological tourism. We will work even harder to ensure that pending projects regrettably not reflected in next year’s budget are definitely included in the 2024 budget.”

Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong baekok@asiae.co.kr

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