Chungnam Public Institutions Consolidation Reduced from 25 to 18

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The outline for the consolidation of public institutions in Chungnam Province has been finalized. The core plan is to reduce the existing 25 institutions to 18 in order to secure momentum for major policy projects and achieve budget savings.

According to the province on the 29th, Samil Accounting Corporation and Wesley Quest presented this plan at the ‘Final Report Meeting on the Study for Promoting Management Efficiency of Chungnam Province Public Institutions’ held the previous day.

Samil Accounting Corporation, which was commissioned to conduct the study, classified the currently operating 25 public institutions and the 5 institutions planned (under review) for establishment into 9 business and 1 functional areas: ▲Economy, Industry, Science ▲Regional Development ▲Education ▲Policy Research ▲Culture, Arts, Tourism ▲Social Policy, Services ▲Medical, Health ▲Financial Support ▲Sports ▲Transportation, and examined ways to improve management efficiency of the institutions.

At the final report meeting, based on the review results, they proposed integrating the Economic Promotion Agency and the Job Promotion Agency into the ‘Job Economy Promotion Agency’, and merging the Chungnam Research Institute and the Science and Technology Promotion Agency into the ‘Chungnam Research Institute’.

They also suggested integrating the Lifelong Education Promotion Agency and the Talent Development Foundation into the ‘Lifelong Education and Talent Development Promotion Agency’, the Cultural Foundation, Baekje Cultural Foundation, and Tourism Foundation into the ‘Culture and Tourism Foundation’, and the Social Service Center, Youth Promotion Agency, and Women and Family Research Institute into the ‘Women, Family and Social Service Center’.

However, they emphasized that during the consolidation process, employees’ job succession and wage levels must be maintained.

Samil Accounting Corporation and others anticipate that if the consolidation is implemented, it will achieve budget efficiency of 72.22 billion KRW over five years and a 11.4% improvement in institution staffing management efficiency.

Meanwhile, the province plans to inform residents of the related details once the final study report is released next year, and to promote management efficiency through ordinance amendments and other measures.