Kim Yoon-duk, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, attended the opening ceremony of KB Financial Town at the Jeonju Innovation City in North Jeolla Province, emphasizing the effect of public agency relocation on invigorating the regional economy.
Kim attended the ceremony held at KB Financial Town in Jungdong, Deokjin-gu, North Jeolla Province, on Monday. "Public agency relocation is promoting the accompanying relocation of private companies and playing a major role in invigorating the regional economy," he said. "By attracting related companies to enhance synergy and actively improving living conditions, we will make the innovation city a competitive city where businesses and young people gather." The ceremony was attended by Kim, along with North Jeolla Province Governor Lee Won-taek, Jeonju Mayor Cho Ji-hoon, KB Financial Group Chairman Yang Jong-hee, and National Pension Service President Kim Sung-joo.
North Jeolla KB Financial Town, which brings together KB Financial's major affiliates including Kookmin Bank, KB Securities, and KB Asset Management, is regarded as a leading case of a private financial institution establishing a large-scale regional hub office following the National Pension Service's relocation to Jeonju in 2015. After the opening, some 350 professional staff will be stationed there to exclusively handle KB Group's National Pension Service-related operations and projects to strengthen regional financial capabilities.
There have been continuous calls that, for the National Pension Service's relocation to lead to the development of specialized industries and the invigoration of the regional economy, the accompanying relocation of private asset managers is needed. Since the announcement of the KB Financial Town development plan in January this year, domestic financial institutions such as Woori and Shinhan, along with global asset managers such as Allianz and BlackRock, have also established collaborative offices with the National Pension Service, further strengthening North Jeolla's financial cluster function.
"In the second public agency relocation policy, which will begin in earnest from the second half of the year, we plan to place emphasis on regional industrial competitiveness based on the '5 Poles, 3 Special Zones' strategy," Kim said.
