On Wednesday, November 5, NEAR Secretary-General Lim Byung-jin met in Gyeongju with Li Tao, Vice Governor of Henan Province, China, and his delegation, who were visiting Korea, to exchange views on matters of mutual interest.
Secretary-General Lim expressed his pleasure in welcoming the Henan delegation in Gyeongju, the host city of the APEC Summit, and conveyed his appreciation for Henan Province’s significant contributions to NEAR’s development as one of its founding members and as the coordinating member government of both the NEAR Subcommittee on International Commerce and the Subcommittee on Tourism.
He also introduced NEAR’s recent progress, this year’s major activities, and next year’s plans, expressing his hope that the 2nd NEAR Subcommittee on International E-commerce Meeting, to be hosted by Henan Province next year, would be a great success and strengthen the province’s role as a leader in logistics and e-commerce in Northeast Asia. He added that the NEAR Secretariat would provide full support for the successful organization of the event.
Vice Governor Li stated that it was particularly meaningful to meet Secretary-General Lim in Gyeongju, the host city of the APEC Summit where President Xi Jinping of China and President Lee Jae-myung of the Republic of Korea held a bilateral meeting. He highly appreciated NEAR’s growing role in promoting peace and development in the Northeast Asian region through its expanding network and active platforms, emphasizing that NEAR’s vision and activities are fully aligned with China’s multilateral diplomacy.
He noted that as a founding member, Henan Province has actively participated in various NEAR activities and even established a friendship city relationship with Ulsan through the NEAR platform. He expressed his gratitude for NEAR’s support and reaffirmed Henan’s commitment to continued close cooperation with NEAR in the future.
Vice Governor Li further stated that Henan Province, being a leader in international e-commerce, is confident in successfully hosting next year’s NEAR Subcommittee on International E-commerce Meeting in cooperation with NEAR, and requested the Secretariat’s full support.
In response, Secretary-General Lim affirmed that the NEAR Secretariat would provide full assistance within its capacity. He requested Henan Province to present a detailed plan and provide the list of invited companies at the NEAR Member Governments Workshop scheduled for March next year. Vice Governor Li agreed to attend the workshop and to send the requested list as soon as possible.
The meeting was attended by Li Bingbing, Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Affairs Office of Henan Province; Zhao Hongtai, Chief Engineer of the Department of Industry and Information Technology; Li Zhaosong, Deputy Director-General of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission; Zhang Yan, Chairwoman of the Henan Council for the Promotion of International Trade; and one other official. From the NEAR Secretariat, Choi Ju-hwa, Director of the International Cooperation Department, was also present.