Chungnam, Public Institutions 'Consolidation' as Part of Management Efficiency Improvement

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is promoting the consolidation of its affiliated public institutions as part of efforts to improve management efficiency of public institutions.

On the 4th, the province announced the "Public Institution Management Efficiency Promotion Plan" with this content. The background of the consolidation promotion is to provide high-quality public services at reasonable costs by adjusting similar and overlapping functions.

Currently, the province operates 25 public institutions, including 1 public enterprise, 21 funded institutions, and 3 public-related organizations. The consolidation will proceed by adjusting the functions of these institutions to reduce the number to 18.

Through the consolidation, the Economic Promotion Agency and the Job Promotion Agency will be integrated into the "Chungnam Job Economy Promotion Agency." Five affiliated centers of the Chungnam Research Institute are also scheduled to be transferred to the Chungnam Job Economy Promotion Agency.

Additionally, the Cultural Foundation, Tourism Foundation, and Baekje Cultural Foundation will be consolidated into the "Culture and Tourism Foundation"; the Lifelong Education Promotion Agency and Talent Development Foundation into the "Lifelong Education and Talent Development Promotion Agency"; the Social Service Agency, Youth Promotion Agency, and Women and Family Research Institute into the "Women, Family, Youth, and Social Service Agency"; and the Chungnam Research Institute and Science and Technology Promotion Agency into the "Chungnam Research Institute," respectively.

Besides these, the province will promote customized management efficiency for 9 other public institutions and 4 medical centers, and the 5 institutions that had been under consideration for establishment will be changed to mid- to long-term review targets or their establishment will be postponed.

During the consolidation process, the province will maintain the employment of staff at each institution. Hiring, promotion, and performance evaluation of employees will follow the system of the absorbing institution, but a separate standard plan based on general principles will be prepared, according to the province's plan.

Furthermore, the province plans to improve operations by integrating job categories and ranks, and design the wage system based on the institution with the higher wages (upward leveling) to ensure that treatment does not deteriorate.

Separately, the province plans to prepare an ordinance to align the term of office of heads of funded and invested institutions appointed by the governor with the governor’s term, and submit it to the Chungnam Provincial Council’s extraordinary session scheduled for next month.

Lee Chang-gyu, Director of the Planning and Coordination Office of the province, said, “The promotion plan was established focusing on securing operational efficiency through integration centered on functions and beneficiaries and economies of scale, based on employment succession and improvement of treatment such as wage levels for employees of public institutions under the province. The province plans to collect and reflect opinions from related departments and institutions going forward.”

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