Naju City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Yoon Byung-tae) announced on the 4th that it made the first contribution of 5 billion KRW to Jeollanam-do from the Gwangju-Jeonnam Joint Innovation City Development Fund on December 29 last year.
The fund contribution aims to spread the achievements of the nation’s only joint innovation city development beyond Naju to other cities and counties in Gwangju and Jeonnam, promoting regional balanced development and mutual growth between the city and province.
Additionally, the fund will be used as a resource to improve residential conditions in the innovation city, such as fostering industries linked to relocated public institutions and expanding living SOC, to leap forward as a premium self-sufficient city.
The development fund was originally planned to be established through a performance-sharing agreement on innovation city development and operation signed in February 2006 by the heads of Naju City, Jeollanam-do, and Gwangju Metropolitan City.
However, differences in opinions regarding the scale of fund formation, usage, committee composition, and timing of contribution among local governments caused prolonged difficulties.
After the launch of the 8th local government administration, Naju City made a magnanimous decision to contribute the fund to promote mutual development between Gwangju and Jeonnam in line with the purpose of the joint innovation city and to drastically improve residential conditions, breaking the deadlock that had lasted over ten years.
Accordingly, in July 2022, the mayors of Naju City, Jeollanam-do, and Gwangju Metropolitan City signed the “Gwangju-Jeonnam Joint Innovation City Mutual Development Agreement,” and Jeollanam-do, the fund’s operating body, enacted and promulgated the “Ordinance on the Establishment and Operation of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Joint Innovation City Development Fund” in August last year.
Naju City also enacted and promulgated the “Ordinance on the Management of the Transfer of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Joint Innovation City Development Fund” to coincide with the fund contribution date.
The city plans to seek reasonable fund operation measures by specifying in the ordinance the requests for data and opinions on fund operation, settlement, and performance analysis results.
Based on the “Ordinance on the Establishment and Operation of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Joint Innovation City Development Fund,” the development fund will be operated with two accounts: “Performance Expansion” (55%) and “Innovation City Promotion” (45%).
55% will be used in Gwangju and Jeonnam, where the joint innovation city has not been established, and 45% will be used for improving residential conditions and addressing current issues in Bitgaram Innovation City.
Although Naju City contributes 5 billion KRW, 2.75 billion KRW will be allocated to Gwangju and Jeonnam, and 2.25 billion KRW to Naju.
The Fund Management Committee consists of 12 members: two chairpersons, three ex officio members recommended by the two cities/provinces and city council, and seven appointed members. The Deputy Mayor of Naju participates as an ex officio member.
The committee meetings convene with a majority of members present, and agenda items are approved by unanimous consent of attending members.
Along with the full-scale formation of the development fund, the three local governments will accelerate mutual cooperation to foster the innovation city as a metropolitan economic zone by expanding infrastructure and resolving environmental issues to create a pleasant living environment.
Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, “Through the fund contribution, mutual cooperation in major pending projects such as the Gwangju-Naju Metropolitan Railroad Project and the activation of the Energy Valley will be promoted, and it will serve as an opportunity for the innovation city to become the center of the metropolitan economic zone of Gwangju and Jeonnam.” He added, “We will devise effective fund utilization plans as a base for the mutual development of Gwangju and Jeonnam.”
He continued, “The innovation city has had a difficult financial structure with expenditures exceeding revenues, but the fund contribution was made from a magnanimous perspective for the nation’s only joint innovation city development and mutual growth between the city and province. I hope the development fund will be used evenly in Naju as well as Gwangju and Jeonnam, serving as a foundation for regional balanced development.”
Naju = Kim Yuk-bong, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy baekok@asiae.co.kr
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