[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City is putting all its efforts into securing national funds in the 60 trillion won range next year as well as this year to accelerate the fulfillment of the 8th term mayoral election pledges.
On the 20th, the city held the first national fund securing briefing session for 2024, co-chaired by Deputy Mayor Park Deok-su and Deputy Mayor for Culture and Welfare Policy Lee Haeng-sook.
At the meeting, they discussed plans to secure national funds for key projects of the 8th term aimed at realizing a "world-class city where citizens are happy," discovering future new growth projects to leap forward as the second economic city, convenience projects closely related to citizens' daily lives, and current issues linked to government policies.
The city's target for national treasury subsidies next year is 50 trillion won, an increase of 5 trillion won from last year's target of 45 trillion won, and it aims to secure more than 1 trillion won in ordinary local allocation tax, which was achieved at a record high last year.
First, as new projects to promote the 8th term mayoral pledges and foster the government's future strategic projects, the city plans to secure more than 238.6 billion won in national funds for 20 projects including attracting a semiconductor specialized complex, establishing an IoT-based smart noise management system, improving the congested road from Gongdan Overpass to Seo-Incheon IC, establishing Incheon Second Medical Center, building an integrated wireless network for Incheon Line 1 and 2 railways, and urban air mobility urban demonstration.
Among them, the "Gongdan Overpass to Seo-Incheon IC Congested Road Improvement" project is a project to build a 4.53 km long, 4-lane underground road with a total investment of 504 billion won (252 billion won in national funds). Through this project, the city expects to improve traffic congestion as well as address issues such as regional disconnection, noise, and scattered dust through the generalization of the upper road.
The city plans to submit the project plan for the Incheon Second Medical Center, which is scheduled to open in 2029, to the government as early as next month.
In addition, the city plans to secure sufficient national funds annually for ongoing projects such as Baengnyeong Airport construction, Incheon-origin KTX construction, Metropolitan Area Express Railway (GTX) Line B, Seunggi Public Sewage Treatment Facility modernization, Bio Process Workforce Training Center establishment, Namdong National Industrial Complex regeneration, and comprehensive development support for the West Sea 5 Islands.
The Baengnyeong Airport construction, which passed the preliminary feasibility study by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance last December, is a project to build a small airport capable of handling 50-seat aircraft on Baengnyeong Island, Ongjin County, with 201.8 billion won in national funds. When Baengnyeong Airport opens in 2027, the current travel time from Baengnyeong Island to Incheon Port, which takes 4 hours, is expected to be reduced to 1 hour (based on Gimpo to Baengnyeong Island).
The Bio Process Workforce Training Center to be built in Songdo International City (Yonsei University International Campus) is also scheduled to be completed in January next year with 22.2 billion won in national funds and other investments.
Meanwhile, each government ministry receives national fund budget applications from local governments by the end of April and submits related budget proposals to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance by the end of May. The government compiles the next year's government budget after review by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and submits it to the National Assembly in early September.
Incheon City plans to hold monthly national fund review meetings until the end of April, the deadline for central government national fund applications, to additionally discover new projects linked to the 8th term mayoral key projects and government policies.
Deputy Mayor Park said, "From this year, it is a very important time to put all efforts into securing national funds so that substantial results of the core pledges and major projects of the 8th term mayoral election can be achieved," adding, "We will continuously discover national funds for future projects and major current issues and do our best to secure national funds beyond the target in cooperation with local members of the National Assembly."
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