On September 4, NEAR Secretary-General Lim Byung-jin participated in a session of the “2024 Eastern Economic Forum (EEF)” as a panelist, which was organized by the Russian central government at Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia. The session was themed “Cooperation in Greater Eurasia: Experience of Developing Production Chains in the EAEU, SCO, and BRICS.”
The session was moderated by Sergei Mihnevich, secretary-general of the Business Committee of the EAEU and director of Multilateral Cooperation Center of RSPP. Presenters included Gohar Barseghyan, member of the Board for Industry and Agro-industrial Complex of the EEC, Roman Chekushov, Russian Deputy Industry and Trade Minister, Leonid Kalashnikov, head of the committee on Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Charlie Than, Union Minister for Industry of Myanmar, Sergey Pavlov, first deputy managing director of Russian Railways, Sergey Ryabukhin, senator of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Volvach, deputy minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, and Alexander Shokhin (online), president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
Secretary-General Lim, joining as a panelist of the session, provided an introduction to NEAR. He stated, “Even with the recent changes in the geopolitical landscape, NEAR is actively carrying out its role as a multilateral exchange platform for the regional governments in Northeast Asia.” He added, “The NEAR membership includes not only the regional governments of China, Russia, Mongolia, and North Korea, main countries in Eurasia, but also those of South Korea and Japan, the leading countries in the Asia Pacific. Based on the coverage of our membership, I think there is a role that our association can play in building partnership in the Greater Eurasia.” Mr. Lim’s remarks received a positive response from the attendees.
During his interview with RIA Novosti, a Russian media, Mr. Lim shared the NEAR’s relationship with its Russian member regions, its plan to organize a NEAR-related session at next year’s EEF, and its initiative to broaden the scope of its membership even to Southeast Asia and Central Asia.
The 2024 Eastern Economic Forum, under the theme “Far East 2030: Combining Strengths to Create New Potential,” featured over 100 sessions and events covering 7 main topics, and was attended by more than 6,000 representatives from 75 countries.