2024-07-25 06:54:14
Paju City completed the first half performance report on the five major livelihood economy policies being promoted to stabilize people’s livelihoods and revitalize the local economy on the 17th. This report included the progress of the first half of the year’s projects and the progress of the proposals made by the Livelihood Economy Stabilization Committee held in March, and served as an opportunity to review the progress of each project so far.
The five major livelihood economy policies named ‘Only the People’s Livelihood Project’ are centered around the following: ① protect prices, ② increase jobs, ③ revitalize the local economy, ④ foster businesses, and ⑤ create a Paju City where farmers thrive. They are Paju City’s own 2024 livelihood policy that aims to discover and expand customized livelihood policies that citizens, including consumers, small business owners, and small and medium-sized enterprises, can feel, thereby stabilizing the people’s livelihood, promoting consumption, and revitalizing the local economy amidst ongoing economic difficulties.
The first major achievement in the first half of the year is the expansion of the issuance of the largest local currency (Paju Pay) in the country to promote regional economic vitality and the achievement of the first-half rapid execution target.
While continuously issuing the largest local currency in the country, during February and May, when household spending increases due to Lunar New Year and Family Month, an incentive of 100,000 won was provided when recharging up to 1 million won per month. In the first half of the year, a total of 128.7 billion won was issued and 11.6 billion won in incentives were paid out, increasing the total issuance amount and incentive amount compared to the previous year. Paju Pay, which can only be used in Paju City, played a major role in contributing to the sales of small business owners and local shops.
In addition, Paju City was selected as an ‘excellent’ local government in the first quarter Ministry of Public Administration and Security’s rapid execution evaluation, securing 30 million won in special grants, and in this first half evaluation, it was recorded that it exceeded its target by more than 110% in both the general and consumption investment sectors. Through such active fiscal execution measures, it was possible to reduce budget waste factors such as budget carryover and minimizing non-use, thereby improving the efficiency of fiscal management and revitalizing the local economy.
Next, we actively discovered and expanded the designation of reasonable-price stores to provide consumers with quality services at low prices despite the continuous rise in prices. In addition, we froze public utility rates (water and sewage rates, volume-based bag prices) and reduced public utility rates by a total of KRW 1.877 billion for vulnerable groups, thereby alleviating the burden on citizens’ households.
Lastly, about 15 billion won was provided to small business owners and companies in the region to expand the scale of local companies and strengthen their self-reliance. About 5.7 billion won was provided to the agricultural and livestock industry sector to strengthen the competitiveness of the agricultural and livestock industry in Paju, a city with an urban-rural complex, and to create a pleasant livestock environment, build a consumption base for local agricultural products, and increase farm household income.
In addition, we strengthened communication administration to listen to the voices of citizens by visiting various mobile market offices, social enterprise sites, and traditional markets, and promoted various livelihood policies being promoted in Paju City through various channels such as the press, broadcasting, YouTube, and other social networking services (SNS).
Mayor Kim Kyung-il of Paju City said, “By actively promoting the five major policies for revitalizing the people’s economy in each field, we were able to not only achieve visible results but also ease the economic burden on citizens, small business owners, and companies, and contribute to revitalizing the local economy.” He added, “Based on field-centered administration, we will continue to review and supplement the process and results of each field to continue to make all-out efforts to revitalize the people’s economy in the second half of the year.”
Economy Queen Reporter Hongmi Kim / Photo Paju City
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2024-07-25 06:54:14