Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said that the government would reallocate some of its public funds gained from state spending cuts for regional businesses to invest in job creation.
In a meeting with economic-related ministers on Wednesday, Hyun said that such “belt-tightening” budgets for regional attractions such as hosting international sporting events are inevitable as the country faces a shortfall in tax revenue.
Such international events as the World Cup, the Olympics and the IAAF World Championships have economically benefited Korea over the past years.
However, the government is looking to downsize future regional events in order to finance job creation efforts.
The central government will only financially support international events in which regional governments have already won their bids to host them in their respective provincial areas.
Such events include the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon and the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade.
However, the Park Geun-hye administration will urge regional governments to scale down sideline events at those international galas, and it will restrict regional offices from increasing their event budgets, the Finance Ministry noted in a press statement.
Regional administrations will have to make up for any additional budget needs on their own.
Hyun added that the government would streamline overlapping regional businesses as part of efforts to reduce inefficient spending.
Its top priorities also include supporting small and medium enterprises, fostering young global leaders and spurring private investment, as well as developing a venture ecosystem for tech firms.
These all come down to boosting job creation particularly for the young, in line with the central government’s goal of achieving a 70 percent employment rate.
The deputy prime minister said that the government will not reduce but maintain its budget for the development and maintenance of key infrastructure and agriculture industry.
By Park Hyong-ki (
hkp@heraldcorp.com)
