Gwangmyeong City Launches Nation's First Policy Research Organization Specializing in Community Asset Monetization

Gwangmyeong City (Mayor Park Seung-won) has launched the nation's first specialized policy research organization dedicated to community asset monetization.

In its first organizational restructuring of the ninth-term elected administration, the city established the 'Local Economic Strategy Research Center Team' under the Division of Social Solidarity Economy in August, and has begun full-scale work on systematically researching community asset monetization policies and concretizing implementation strategies.

At a project kickoff meeting held on the 11th in the Great Conference Hall for 'Establishing Regional Circular Economy Activation Strategy for Community Asset Building,' discussions took place regarding implementation strategies for community asset monetization to build a self-reinforcing regional economy structure, as well as promotion tasks and performance management methods.

Community asset monetization is a strategy that creates an ecosystem of regional circular economy where wealth generated in the region is consumed, produced, and reinvested within the region, enabling citizens, small business owners, and regional enterprises to grow sustainably together.

The city views the self-reinforcing structure where value created in the region accumulates within the region, and the region's growth leads to the growth of diverse stakeholders—citizens, enterprises, public institutions, and anchor organizations—as the foundation for sustainable regional growth. To systematically research community asset monetization policies that support this and to concretize implementation strategies, the city established the 'Local Economic Strategy Research Center Team.'

First, to establish a strategy for activating the regional circular economy, the city will discover related industrial sectors that can promote inter-company transactions and prepare strategies to activate transactions.

The city will strengthen linkages among regional economic actors to enable production, consumption, and transactions within the region, and will also discover industrial sectors that can be converted into social solidarity economy enterprises.

Gwangmyeong City Mayor Park Seung-won stated, "The community asset monetization policy will be an especially important growth strategy for Gwangmyeong City, which is undergoing major transformation with the Gwangmyeong-Siheung Third New City and Techno Valley development," and added, "Centered on the Local Economic Strategy Research Center Team, we will lay the foundation for sustainable regional growth and create a mutually beneficial Gwangmyeong where regional achievements lead to the growth of citizens and enterprises."

Meanwhile, the Local Economic Strategy Research Center Team plans to pursue policy research centered on five key areas: △expansion of community assets △expansion of public procurement and discretionary contracts for regional enterprises △strengthening the effectiveness of the Gwangmyeong Love Currency (local currency) policy △promoting cooperation among local anchor institutions within the region △and activating social finance.