Choe Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister, "Large-scale Regional Investment Needed Utilizing Abundant Private Funds"

Launch Ceremony of Regional Revitalization Investment Fund Held on the 26th

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, emphasized on the 26th that “what is needed is not small-scale, one-off investments that divide central government finances piecemeal, but large-scale convergence investments where local governments design and lead projects and utilize abundant private capital.”

Minister Choi made these remarks at the launch ceremony of the Regional Revitalization Investment Fund held at Bongseo Hall, Cheonan City Hall, Chungnam, together with Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and Kang Seok-hoon, Chairman of Korea Development Bank. The event was held successfully with about 700 attendees, including 14 metropolitan local governments such as Kim Tae-heum, Governor of Chungnam, Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk, and Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam, as well as related organizations, key figures from the financial and industrial sectors, and academia.

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, is attending the Emergency Macroeconomic and Financial Meeting held at the Bankers' Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 21st. Attending the closed meeting were Kim Ju-hyun, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission; Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea; and Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The Regional Revitalization Investment Fund is a new regional investment method that promotes sustainable large-scale convergence projects desired by the region by utilizing the creative capabilities and abundant capital of the private sector. The government finance, the Local Extinction Response Fund, and Korea Development Bank each invest 100 billion KRW to create a 300 billion KRW mother fund, and local governments and the private sector jointly form child funds and establish project SPCs to invest in various regional revitalization projects totaling 3 trillion KRW.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok stated that in the era of local governments declared by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, “the government will support everything it can to ensure the successful establishment and growth of the Regional Revitalization Investment Fund.” Additionally, Minister Choi introduced two ‘No. 1 projects’ approved by Korea Growth Investment Corporation.

The ‘Chungbuk Danyang Station Complex Tourism Complex Project’ (worth 113.3 billion KRW), which develops abandoned railway sites into a complex tourism complex, and the ‘Gyeongbuk Gumi National Industrial Complex Structural Advancement Project’ (worth 123.9 billion KRW), which builds new worker housing facilities in an aging national industrial complex, are being promoted as the first projects after approval of the mother fund. Furthermore, various candidates such as the ‘Chungnam Seosan Complex Smart Farm Complex Project’ worth 330 billion KRW and the ‘Jeonnam Yeosu LNG Terminal Project’ worth 1.4 trillion KRW are preparing to apply for the fund.

Minister Lee Sang-min emphasized in his welcoming remarks, “We will support in various ways so that each region can discover projects suited to their regional characteristics and maximize project outcomes.” Kang Seok-hoon, Chairman of Korea Development Bank, said in his congratulatory speech, “If local governments, who know the local conditions best, collaborate with the private sector to discover and plan regional projects through the Regional Revitalization Investment Fund, and private financial institutions verify and reinforce profitability and sustainability, successful regional development investments will be achieved.”

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