(SEOUL=Yonhap News) Budget for the fire-fighting industry in the public and construction sector is estimated to surpass KRW 1 trillion this year.
According to a demand survey conducted by the Ministry of Public Safety and Security, 1,949 public organizations and 51 construction companies plan to invest KRW 1,313.4 billion in the fire safety industry in 2017.
This is a KRW 341.7 billion (35.2 percent) increase from last year's KRW 971.7 billion.
By sector, the public sector set a budget of KRW 433.2 billion, a 24.8 percent increase from the previous year, and the construction sector established a budget of KRW 880.2 billion, up 40.9 percent year over year.
In the public sector, purchase of fire-fighting equipment made up the greatest portion, accounting for KRW 351.1 billion or 81.1 percent of the total budget.
Most of the expenditure is expected to be used for local subsidies for fire safety, which is spent on the purchase of fire fighting vehicles, personal protective equipment, rescue and emergency equipment.
In the construction sector, budget allocated for fire safety construction was KRW 873.3 billion won, accounting for 99.3 percent of the total.
The survey respondents plan to invest KRW 475.3 billion in the first quarter and KRW 364.7 billion in the second quarter, spending 64 percent of the annual budget in the first half.
In particular, 83.6 percent of the budget for the public sector is planned to be implemented in the first half.
sncwook@yna.co.kr
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Source: Yonhap News (Feb. 1, 2017)