The building coverage ratio of agricultural industrial complexes will be relaxed from 70% to 80%. This is expected to ease the difficulties of corporations that have struggled due to a lack of land available for construction in agricultural industrial complexes. The building coverage ratio refers to the proportion of a construction site occupied by buildings.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 21st that they would revise the Enforcement Decree of the National Land Planning and Utilization Act in the first half of this year, following a decision to raise the building coverage ratio in agricultural industrial complexes after discussions at the 'Local Regulation Innovation Committee' last year.
Until now, the building coverage ratio for agricultural industrial complexes was set at 70%, which is 10 percentage points lower than that of general industrial complexes, to prevent overcrowding in rural areas and to prevent the proliferation of industrial complexes. As a result, corporations located in agricultural industrial complexes had to purchase land outside the complexes or transfer their factories to other regions due to building coverage ratio restrictions, despite having idle space within their factory sites. Local governments also faced a situation where the relocation of tenant corporations from local agricultural industrial complexes to other areas led to population decline and a decrease in tax revenue, impacting the local economy.
Accordingly, the government decided to amend relevant regulations to allow the building coverage ratio to be relaxed to 80%, provided that local governments acknowledge sufficient infrastructure in agricultural industrial complexes and go through the review of the Local Urban Planning Committee, to improve investment conditions and revitalize the economy in regions suffering from population decline.
This measure is expected to alleviate the difficulties faced by regional corporations that have struggled due to a lack of land available for construction in agricultural industrial complexes, despite the need for factory expansion. With improved investment conditions for corporations in agricultural industrial complexes, it is anticipated that this will also contribute to balanced regional development through the revitalization of agricultural industrial complexes in the future. As a result of this decision, 484 agricultural industrial complexes and 7,672 corporations nationwide will benefit. Notably, 68% (330 sites) of these agricultural industrial complexes are located in areas experiencing population decline, which is expected to mitigate population extinction in those areas and inject vitality into the local economy.
Lee Sang-joo, head of the National Land and Urban Policy Division, said, "I hope this decision will help reduce the burden on corporations and activate investment, contributing to the recovery of the regional economy that has been struggling and to balanced national development."