Jeonnam Province Opens Era of 8 Trillion Won National Budget for the First Time Ever... 9.4% Increase Compared to Last Year

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province has opened the first-ever era of 8 trillion won in national funding.

The province announced on the 3rd that 8.3914 trillion won was reflected in the 2022 government budget, which passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 2nd.

This is an increase of 9.4% (724.3 billion won) compared to last year's 7.6671 trillion won.

In particular, the SOC budget increased by 212.1 billion won compared to the previous year. Major new projects leading Jeonnam's future development also secured 222.4 billion won.

By sector, the SOC budget for regional balanced development included 39 projects totaling 1.6003 trillion won.

In the ‘5th National Road and Local Road Construction Plan,’ 100 million won each in national funding was additionally secured during the National Assembly review process for the Sinan Bigeum~Amtae Yeondogyo bridge construction project and the Yeosu~Namhae undersea tunnel construction project, enabling early turnkey ordering.

The Gyeongjeon Line (Gwangju Songjeong~Suncheon) project also secured 240 billion won to promote the Boseong~Suncheon section as a fast track.

In addition, major projects including 605 billion won for the Honam High-Speed Railway Phase 2, 360 billion won for the Gwangju~Wando Phase 1 highway, and 17.6 billion won for Muan Airport runway extension were reflected in roads, railways, bridges, and air routes.

In the agriculture, forestry, marine, and fisheries sector, 621.9 billion won was allocated to 74 projects. Agricultural projects secured ▲200 million won for the feasibility study of establishing the National Namdo Food Promotion Institute and ▲550 million won for the kimchi raw material supply complex project.

Marine and fisheries projects included ▲200 million won for the feasibility study of establishing the National Marine Fisheries Museum and ▲4.6 billion won for the design of the Gwangyang Port testbed port automation construction project.

In the R&D sector, which will be a future growth engine for the region, 180.1 billion won was allocated to 59 projects.

Major reflected projects include ▲1.5 billion won for the feasibility study of establishing an ultra-high-power laser research facility ▲2.8 billion won for land acquisition costs for establishing the National Cardiovascular Center ▲4 billion won for building a superconducting conductor test facility for the nuclear fusion demonstration reactor ▲13.1 billion won for expanding the functions of the Vaccine Safety Technology Support Center ▲1.4 billion won for the m-RNA vaccine demonstration support infrastructure project.

In the energy and strategic industry sector, 115.2 billion won was allocated to 32 projects.

Major projects include ▲1.7 billion won for establishing an energy new material industrialization platform ▲3 billion won for building a digital transformation infrastructure for power equipment ▲200 million won for the Carbon Capture Utilization (CCU) demonstration support center construction project ▲1.9 billion won for developing hydrogen-powered leisure boats and equipment ▲2.4 billion won for technology development to improve the efficiency of passenger ships based on renewable energy ▲25 billion won in contributions to the Korea Energy Technology University.

In the culture and tourism sector, 125.3 billion won was secured for 39 projects aimed at developing new future tourism resources.

Major projects include ▲1.5 billion won for the Southern Region Wide-area Tourism Development Plan research ▲3.3 billion won for installing a sewage treatment plant to revitalize the Osiano tourism complex ▲10.8 billion won for hotel & resort projects. For supporting the 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo, ▲1.2 billion won for creating the Korean Peninsula crater garden ▲4 billion won for reconstructing the Suncheonman bridge and ▲1.6 billion won for the Suncheonman ecological garden street project were included.

In the employment and administration sector, 249.1 billion won was allocated to 55 projects. With 4.3 billion won for follow-up measures of the ‘Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Special Act,’ the province can actively pursue projects to uncover the truth of the incident and restore the honor of victims and bereaved families. Additionally, 5.7 billion won was secured for remodeling and operating expenses of the Korea Island Promotion Agency.

Newly secured was 400 million won for design costs to build a small and medium enterprise training center in the southern central region of the South Sea coast.

Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok said, “We will establish a prompt execution plan for the reflected projects to achieve early results. We will immediately start discovering projects for securing national funding in 2023, develop persuasive arguments for projects not reflected in 2022 and new projects, and proactively respond to secure national funds to open a happier Jeonnam era.”