Seoul unveils further steps for balanced development

SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Monday that it will expand tax
benefits and other incentives for companies planning to move into provincial
areas as part of its efforts to foster balanced development.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said that it will cut corporate taxes on
companies moving to less-developed provincial areas for up to 10 years from the
current 7 years, while promising to give financial support for relocation.
The ministry added that it will also step up efforts to build "quality" high
schools in provincial areas as part of efforts to induce more companies to
relocate.
Detailed education-related measures will be announced in the first half of next
year, the ministry said.
Those and other measures are among the second-phase policy package aimed at
promoting balanced national development. The first one was unveiled in September
under which the ministry promised to invest 50 trillion won (US$45.8 billion)
over the next five years to finance state-led provincial development projects.
The move comes as complaints grow that the development gap between urban and
rural areas is widening.
Some people argue that the Lee Myung-bak government is seeking to focus only on
revamping the areas in and around Seoul where a fourth of the nation's population
is concentrated and with the government and large companies stationing their
headquarters there.
"We believe that the key to development in the provincial area is to induce
companies to move there so that they could create jobs and income," the ministry
said in a statement. "We will do our utmost to that end by providing diverse
economic and social incentives."
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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