National Association of Mayors, County Heads, and District Office Heads Signs MOU on Regional Balanced Development and Local Autonomy

[Suwon Ilbo=Seo Dong-young] The National Association of Mayors, County Heads, and District Office Heads, the Association of Korean Metropolitan Governors and Do Governors, the Presidential Committee for Balanced National Development, and the Presidential Committee on Local Autonomy have pledged to join forces in seeking ways to advance the local fiscal adjustment system for effective region-led balanced development.

Yeom Tae-young, chairman of the National Association of Mayors, County Heads, and District Office Heads (Mayor of Suwon), Lee Choon-hee, vice chairman of the Association of Korean Metropolitan Governors and Do Governors (Mayor of Sejong Special City), Song Jae-ho, chairman of the Presidential Committee for Balanced National Development, and Kim Sun-eun, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Local Autonomy, representing four agencies, signed a ‘Local Fiscal MOU (memorandum of understanding)’ on the afternoon of the 23rd at Lotte Hotel Seoul.

The agreement ceremony, organized by the Committee for Balanced Development, was arranged as a follow-up measure from November, when consensus was formed to promote region-led development and national balanced development and enhance fairness and autonomy in local fiscal management.

Under the agreement, the four agencies will strengthen exchange activities including research and policy development on the local fiscal adjustment system, development of indicators for regional balanced development, gathering opinions, and mutual understanding. The plan is to identify joint agendas, develop policies, and host academic events.

Following the agreement ceremony, a policy seminar titled ‘Development of Fiscal Relations between Government for Innovative Inclusion’ was held, where comprehensive discussions on horizontal fiscal adjustment systems and fiscal cooperation took place. Lively discussions also took place on the direction of reform of the local fiscal system utilizing the shared tax system and innovative directions for region-led fiscal cooperation.

Chairman Yeom Tae-young said, “Comprehensive fiscal decentralization restructuring is necessary, taking into account fiscal decentralization that considers the characteristics of basic local governments, harmonization between equity and diversity among regions, and appropriateness of revenue and burden,” and “I hope that today's agreement will be the first step in finding solutions that can satisfy the central, metropolitan, and basic levels.”