Gyeonggi Province Focuses on Job Creation with 22.5 Trillion Won Second Supplementary Budget

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 28th that it submitted a second supplementary budget of approximately 22.5 trillion won—comprising 19.4 trillion won in the general account and 3.1 trillion won in special accounts—to the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly on the 18th.

This represents an increase of 505.4 billion won compared to the first supplementary budget of 22.01 trillion won earlier this year.

Jo Cheong-sik, director of Gyeonggi Province's Planning and Coordination Bureau, said, "We have compiled the supplementary budget to respond to the government's supplementary budget and to promote job creation, welfare projects, and collaborative governance projects," adding, "We plan to secure the necessary funds through refunded amounts and internal reserves."

The general account revenues in the supplementary budget submitted by Gyeonggi Province include 41.2 billion won in provincial refunds, 33.8 billion won in non-tax revenues, 3.4 billion won in unused national treasury subsidy allocations, and 9.9 billion won in local transfer tax. Dependent revenues such as national treasury subsidies total 165.7 billion won.

For expenditures, the province allocated 15.5 billion won for financial activities including transfers to special accounts and funds, 200 million won for administrative operating expenses including civil service salaries, and 238.3 billion won for policy projects.

Policy projects include 10 billion won for designated-purpose projects, 196.5 billion won for national treasury subsidy projects, and 109.6 billion won for current and in-house projects.

The second supplementary budget is concentrated on job creation, health and welfare and education, disaster and environmental safety, and northern and other sectors.

Gyeonggi Province has allocated 61 billion won to job-related sectors, including economic revitalization and support for SOC-related jobs.

In particular, to reduce wage gaps between small and medium-sized enterprises and large enterprises and address job mismatches, the province has reflected the "Working Youth Series" project with 20.6 billion won, local job creation support projects in cities and counties with 5 billion won, fund establishment for startup support in the content sector with 2 billion won, and technology doctor projects to strengthen competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in the province with 1 billion won.

To promote large-scale civil engineering projects such as road construction and river improvement and create construction-related jobs—known as SOC job creation—the province has secured 8.8 billion won for the Daegok-Sosa Parallel Railway construction, 7 billion won for Onam-Sudong National Local Road construction, 4 billion won for Silchon-Manseon National Local Road construction, and 6 billion won for compensation for local river properties pending payment.

Second, the province has allocated 44.2 billion won to health, welfare, and education sectors for supporting vulnerable populations and youth welfare.

For the health and welfare of vulnerable populations, 7.5 billion won has been allocated for public health projects at Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Uijeongbu and Pocheon Hospitals, 1.8 billion won for pilot mixed-use social housing projects to supply housing to low-income single-person households, and 500 million won for disability welfare support projects including activity allowances, medical expenses, and heating and cooling costs for persons with disabilities.

Regarding education for future generations in Gyeonggi Province, 31.5 billion won has been allocated for indoor gymnasium construction projects at schools to allow students to engage in physical activities without concerns about fine dust, and 3 billion won for school meal support projects providing eco-friendly quality agricultural products and G-mark quality livestock products to elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the province.

Third, to continuously strengthen disaster response capabilities, the province is investing 11.4 billion won in the disaster and environmental safety sector in this supplementary budget.

To enhance practical Gyeonggi firefighting capabilities for swift and accurate disaster response, 4 billion won has been allocated for field training facility reinforcement projects, 800 million won for water supply facility reinforcement, and 600 million won for land acquisition for firefighting training grounds. The province has allocated 1.5 billion won for uniforms for newly appointed firefighters and supplies for newly established 119 Safety Centers.

For environmental safety, 2 billion won has been allocated for establishing Gyeonggi Province's representative fine dust monitoring stations, 1.4 billion won for constructing dedicated biosafety level 3 laboratories for AI surveillance reinforcement and safety assurance, and 200 million won to support transmission line connection costs for solar power generation to promote alternative energy distribution.

Fourth, 11.2 billion won has been allocated to the northern region and other sectors.

To enhance competitiveness of the northern region, the province plans to invest 7 billion won for constructing underground parking at the North Provincial Government Building plaza, 1.4 billion won for establishing a Comprehensive Support Center for Persons with Disabilities in Northern Gyeonggi, and 200 million won for rent on living facilities at the Northern Fire and Disaster Headquarters.

Additionally, 500 million won has been allocated to support the successful hosting of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and 700 million won for promoting the second half public competitive recruitment examination following the expansion of on-site civil servants.

These major provincial projects include 28.8 billion won in collaborative governance project budgets being pursued with the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly. Accordingly, the total budget reflected in this year's collaborative governance projects has reached 1.75 trillion won.

Representative examples include 1 billion won for small and medium enterprise support technology development projects, 1.8 billion won for developing and supplying new housing models, and 1.4 billion won for expanding social participation opportunities and strengthening self-reliance foundations for persons with disabilities.

A provincial official stated, "This supplementary budget prioritizes job-related projects, which are the greatest challenge facing the Republic of Korea today," and added, "Like the Working Youth Series project that supports working conditions for young people at small and medium enterprises, we will strive to ensure that budgets are compiled and executed so that residents can tangibly feel the benefits in their daily lives."

Gyeonggi Province's 2017 second supplementary budget will be finalized on September 12 following deliberation by the provincial assembly's standing committees and budget and accounts committee.