Naju City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Yoon Byung-tae) announced on the 8th that it won the Grand Prize at the ‘2023 Korea Regional Economy Awards’.
This is a remarkable achievement following last year’s top prize in the job creation category at the Jeollanam-do Job and Economy Festival.
Organized by the Korean Regional Economy Association and the Korean Regional Economy Research Institute, the Korea Regional Economy Awards were launched last year to encourage region-led efforts for regional specialization and to promote local governments’ achievements and efforts in regional economic administration.
The evaluation targeted 17 cities and provinces nationwide and 228 basic local governments, focusing on existing officially published objective statistics and quantitative indicators. The regional economic performance was assessed by an evaluation committee composed of experts in each field.
The city ranked first nationwide in the job creation category, which evaluates employment rate, number of employed persons, and economic activity participation rate compared to the previous year, among nine sectors in the regional economy field.
Additionally, it ranked second in the corporate support category, which covers the number of businesses and workers per population and their growth rate compared to the previous year, achieving a total score of 8,975 points and securing the overall grand prize title.
This grand prize win is considered an even more valuable achievement as it is the result of evaluations researched and analyzed by accredited institutions based solely on objective statistical data.
The city has been dedicated to creating ‘energy sector customized jobs,’ its core industry, supporting ‘rental housing’ without deposits to provide stable housing environments for employed youth, and operating a ‘Job Comprehensive Support Center’ that offers one-stop services for job counseling, vocational training, and employment placement.
Last year, it implemented 152 job-related projects including youth jobs and youth startup support projects, achieving job creation results with 926 job openings, 819 job seekers, 1,227 placements, and 532 employed persons.
Efforts were also focused on attracting companies, the foundation of job creation. Notably, in October last year, the city held the first ‘Metropolitan Area Investment Attraction Roadshow’ targeting the metropolitan area rather than local regions at COEX in Seoul, resulting in four corporate investment agreements and attracting investment funds worth 30 billion KRW (two cases).
This year, the city plans to prioritize projects such as the commercialization of a future DC-based power grid platform following the designation of the Energy New Industry Global Innovation Zone, and the creation of an energy industry-academia-research cluster linked with the Energy National Industrial Complex and Korea Energy Engineering University.
Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, “We will lead a virtuous cycle of investment and stable settlement by creating a business-friendly city where resident companies and workers can work enthusiastically and take pride. We will lay the foundation for a 200,000-strong global small and strong city through Naju-type job creation by attracting advanced companies in culture, knowledge, venture, and energy new industries.”
Naju = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Yuk-bong baekok@asiae.co.kr
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