Reorganization of Investment and Contribution Institutions to Strengthen Financial Soundness and Operational Efficiency
Number of Investment Institutions Adjusted from 4 to 2, Contribution Institutions from 22 to 20
Basic Principle of Employment Succession for Employees Excluding Executives of Merged or Abolished Institutions
Hansoo Kim, Director of Planning and Coordination Office of Gangwon Province, announced the plan for restructuring the province's invested and supported institutions on the 28th. [Gangwon Province]
[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Gangwon Province is promoting the restructuring of investment and contribution institutions to strengthen financial soundness and improve operational efficiency.
Projects overlapping with those currently promoted by the province and competing with the private sector will be guided towards privatization, and institutions that are functionally similar or small in scale will be merged or abolished.
As a result, the number of investment institutions will be adjusted from 4 to 2, and contribution institutions from 22 to 20, with plans to ensure employment succession for employees of merged or abolished institutions to prevent job insecurity.
The province stated, "This plan responds to the government's emphasis on efficiency and strong public institution innovation, focusing on debt reduction."
Among the investment institutions, Gangwon Deep Sea Water and Gangwon Export, which compete with the private sector, will be privatized by recovering provincial investment funds according to government policy to allow better private sector management.
Among the contribution institutions, the Gangwon Provincial Theater Company, which is small with fewer than 10 employees and only handles the cultural genre of theater, will be merged into the Cultural Foundation that oversees the overall cultural and artistic fields within the province.
The Gangwon Job Foundation has many overlapping tasks with those promoted by the province, so its job-related functions will be transferred to the Gangwon Economic Promotion Agency, which will strengthen its role by overseeing corporate support within the province.
In particular, since employment succession for employees excluding executives of merged or abolished institutions will be the basic principle, the province expects no unrest among employees regarding job insecurity.
Additionally, during the restructuring process, the province plans to resolve anticipated issues by hearing opinions from the provincial council, stakeholders in related fields, and employees of the relevant institutions.
Despite low financial conditions, Gangwon Province has been operating the largest number of 26 investment and contribution institutions among metropolitan local governments nationwide and supporting them with an annual provincial subsidy of 40 billion KRW. In response to criticism, the province plans to strengthen management evaluations of these institutions.
Accordingly, institutions ranked in the bottom tier for three consecutive years will have their functions enhanced through management consulting, and institutions difficult to improve will have separate restructuring plans established for continuous management.
A provincial official stated, "Through this restructuring of investment and contribution institutions, we will achieve their original purposes and make every effort to streamline organizations and strengthen financial soundness to improve operational efficiency."
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