2024-07-08 12:19:37
The governors of eight cities and provinces in Yeongnam and Honam have joined forces to achieve balanced regional development. The mayors of eight cities and provinces in Yeongnam and Honam, including Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, and Ulsan, as well as the Jeollabuk-do Special Self-Governing Province, Jeollanam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Gyeongsangnam-do, have come together and agreed to work together to strengthen local autonomy and achieve balanced regional development.
The Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province announced that the ’18th Yeongnam-Honam Province Governors’ Cooperation Meeting’ (Chairman Kim Kwan-young, Governor of Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province) was held at the Muju Taekwondo Center at 1:00 PM on the 8th, with the attendance of the six Yeongnam-Honam province governors (Jeonbuk, Busan, Gwangju, Ulsan, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam) and two vice-government heads (Daegu, Jeonnam).
The meeting that day was conducted with a report on the current status of the operation of the East-West Exchange and Cooperation Foundation, which was established and operated for the purpose of East-West harmony, the election of the next cooperation meeting chairperson, and the signing of a joint response statement on 10 major areas for local decentralization and balanced regional development.
The governors of the eight cities and provinces in Yeongnam and Honam deeply agreed that local governments, which know the realities of their regions best, should have actual authority to lead regional development, and that true decentralization and balanced development are possible through close cooperation and collaboration among local governments. They adopted a joint statement of eight joint policy cooperation tasks and two proposals for balanced regional development.
The joint cooperation policy tasks are as follows: △Expansion of the scope of the family business inheritance tax deduction, △National support for the regional climate response fund for the transition to a carbon-neutral society, △Expansion of cooperation and financial support to respond to the low birth rate, △Joint response to establish measures to overcome the local financial crisis, △Relaxation of requirements for designation of alternative sites for the Green Belt regional strategic project, △Improvement of consultations on the establishment and modification of the social security system, △Proposal for a regional-based metropolitan visa system, and △Revision of the Island Development Promotion Act.
In addition, the regional balanced development proposals adopted were △Construction of the Yeongnam-Honam metropolitan road network (2 routes including construction of the Ulsan-Yangsan Expressway and Jeonju-Daegu Expressway), △Construction of the Yeongnam-Honam metropolitan railway network (6 routes including construction of the Ulsan-Jeonju high-speed railway connection and the Yeongnam-Honam inland line (Jeonju-Gimcheon) railway).
In addition, they promised mutual support and participation between cities and provinces for the successful hosting of 14 major events, including the ’22nd World Korean Business Convention’ and the ‘2024 Jeonsu World Sound Festival’, which are being planned by city and province.
In addition, Gyeongnam Governor Park Wan-soo was elected as the next chairman of the 15th Yeongnam-Honam Provincial Governors’ Cooperation Council. The term of office is one year.
Chairman Kim Kwan-young, governor of North Jeolla Province, emphasized, “In order to establish a practical local autonomy system and strengthen local decentralization, it is necessary to strengthen the authority and system of local governments, such as expanding local legislative power, establishing local financial power, and guaranteeing the right to local organization.”
Governor Kim continued, “We must achieve substantial and in-depth cooperation through strengthening exchanges and cooperation between local governments in Yeongnam and Honam, and cooperation in each field of city and provincial government in Yeongnam,” and added, “Let’s go beyond the growth of Yeongnam and open a full-fledged local era, and lead the change of the Republic of Korea together.”
Meanwhile, the ‘Yeongnam-Honam Provincial Governors’ Cooperation Council’ was established in 1998 to maintain close ties and a cooperative system between the Yeongnam and Honam regions and to work for mutually beneficial cooperation between the Yeongnam and Honam regions, including friendly exchanges between the Yeongnam and Honam regions and support for Yeongnam and Honam cooperation projects by private organizations.
Queen Choi Ha Na, reporter photo Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province
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2024-07-08 12:19:37