'Korea-Georgia 30th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations Ceremony' Held

[Seoul District News] Seodaemun-gu to Hold Korea-Georgia Diplomatic Relations 30th Anniversary Event from May 7 Noon Featuring Georgian Traditional Food, Wine, Souvenirs; Proceeds Donated to Ukrainian Embassy to Show Solidarity and Pray for Peace; Seodaemun Volunteer Groups and Staff Deliver Ukraine Relief Funds... Yongsan-gu Selected as Best District for Rapid Local Finance Execution, Secures 100 Million KRW Special Grant

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) announced on the 22nd that the "30th Anniversary of Korea-Georgia Diplomatic Relations" event, hosted by the Embassy of Georgia in Korea, will be held on May 7 from noon to 3 p.m. at Sinchon Boxquare (22-5 Sinchon Station-ro) in front of Sinchon Station on the Gyeongui-Jungang Line.

Citizens can purchase traditional Georgian food, wine, souvenirs, and participate in side events such as writing their names in Georgian during the event.

In particular, Otar Berdzenishvili, the Ambassador of Georgia to Korea, plans to personally deliver all proceeds from sales at the event to Dmytro Ponomarenko, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Korea.

This is intended to show solidarity with Ukraine, a fellow Black Sea coastal country suffering from Russia's invasion, and to pray for peace.

Additionally, 11.07 million KRW in relief donations, contributed by volunteer organizations in Seodaemun-gu, volunteer camps in each neighborhood, district office staff, and Hongik Bookstore, will also be delivered to the Embassy of Ukraine in Korea on the same day.

Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, who will participate in the commemorative event, said, "This will be an opportunity to promote friendly cooperation between Korea and Georgia and to pray for the end of the war in Ukraine and the restoration of peace."

Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) was selected as the "Best" institution among nationwide basic local governments in the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's 2021 second half local finance rapid execution evaluation.

The local finance rapid execution rate for the second half of 2021 was 112.7%, with an execution amount of 626.7 billion KRW compared to the target amount of 556 billion KRW. In particular, the execution amount for consumption and investment projects in the 3rd and 4th quarters totaled 123.9 billion KRW, greatly exceeding the original target of 89.3 billion KRW. The execution rate in this field (average 138.7%) ranked first among Seoul's autonomous districts.

This evaluation was conducted on 243 local governments nationwide (17 metropolitan, 226 basic). The best local governments were selected based on a comprehensive evaluation of execution performance in ▲finance (48%) ▲consumption and investment (48%) ▲job projects (4%).

A district official stated, "Through this evaluation, we secured a special grant of 100 million KRW as an incentive," adding, "Including the 35 million KRW secured from being selected as an excellent organization in the first half of 2021, all incentives will be reinvested in local priority projects."

The district established the "2022 First Half Local Finance Rapid Execution Promotion Plan" in February. The execution target amount is 107.1 billion KRW (55.6% of the managed budget amount). Consumption and investment-related projects, including large-scale projects over 3 billion KRW, will be intensively managed.

Seong Jang-hyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, "As social distancing measures are lifted, signs of economic recovery are appearing," and added, "We will promptly execute possible expenses so that local finance can serve as a catalyst for revitalizing the local economy."