Namwon-si, 'All-Out Effort' to Secure National Budget for Next Year

Namwon City in Jeonbuk is making every effort to secure national funding for the creation of "Namwon advancing through culture and future industries."

According to the city on the 23rd, it plans to concentrate all its capabilities on securing national funds to drive this year's priority projects. Since last year, it has identified a total of 204 key new projects that align with the government's priority policies to increase next year's national budget.

Namwon City Hall Exterior View
[Photo by Namwon City]

Among them, excluding 2025 target projects related to preliminary administrative procedures, 180 projects with a total budget of 1.6147 trillion KRW have been confirmed as target projects for securing the 2024 national budget.

Although still in the response phase, considering that 92 new national budget projects were secured in 2023, the scale of response has significantly increased.

The core areas of major projects are in future new growth sectors, including sustainable growth projects through industrial restructuring such as ▲ Establishment of a Drone and UAM Promotion and Exhibition Center (total budget 25 billion KRW), ▲ Infrastructure construction for the Namwon-type aviation industry demonstration complex (69 billion KRW), ▲ Creation of an ecological environment base for natural white bio-materials (20 billion KRW), and ▲ Establishment of a smart farm insect production complex (18 billion KRW), many of which are key projects of the 8th local government administration.

There are also projects for creating a global art city within Hampau Art Valley, including ▲ Construction of a Ceramic Culture Exhibition Hall (15 billion KRW) and ▲ Expansion of the Namwon Municipal Kim Byung-jong Art Museum (Second Building) (20 billion KRW).

For creating a safe and pleasant urban environment, projects include ▲ Drainage improvement project in Bujeol district (13 billion KRW), ▲ Maintenance of aging water supply networks (13.3 billion KRW), and ▲ Installation of Buun public sewage treatment facilities (20 billion KRW).

Based on the identified projects, the city is proactively responding ahead of the government's budget formulation schedule to continue the trend of increasing national fund acquisition.

Since last month, all department heads have been explaining the necessity of project promotion through joint visits to Jeonbuk Province and central government ministries, requesting active support from the province. Mayor Choi Kyung-sik also visited the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 23rd to actively request support for the city's priority projects.

This reflects Mayor Choi's exceptional passion and determination to strategically respond by strengthening project-specific arguments based on feedback from Jeonbuk Province and ministries until the end of May, when the ministry budget proposals are submitted to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, aiming to secure the maximum national budget and successfully lead the 8th local government administration.

Mayor Choi Kyung-sik said, "With the government's ongoing fiscal tightening policy, securing national funds is not an easy environment, but this year is the second year of the 8th local government administration and an important time to actively work toward achieving the goals promised to citizens."

He added, "Since the target projects for next year have been finalized, we will put all our efforts into achieving the maximum national budget acquisition this year as well, following last year, by maintaining close cooperation with local political circles."

Namwon = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Jeong Young-gwon baekok@asiae.co.kr