On September 3, Secretary-General Lim Byung-jin met with Shcherbina Vera, Prime Minister of the Primorsky Territory Government, during his visit to Vladivostok, Russia, where he attended the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) as a panelist.
Expressing gratitude for the invitation, Mr. Lim shared recent updates on NEAR’s activities with Ms. Shcherbina, including the current status of Russian member governmentsa and upcoming NEAR events, such as the High-Level Working Committee (in September in Liaoning Province) and the Subcommittee on Innovation Plus (in October in Hunan Province). Mr. Lim also encouraged active participation from Primorsky in these events, especially inviting the governor or the prime minister to attend the General Assembly next year.
He added that NEAR highly values its cooperation with Primorsky, given the region’s crucial role in promoting regional cooperation in Northeast Asia from both geopolitical and economic perspectives.
Expressing appreciation for Mr. Lim’s attendance at the EEF, Ms. Shcherbina highlighted that Primorsky continues to engage in exchanges with neighboring countries in areas such as culture, sports, and education, despite the challenges posed by the current geopolitical landscape. She also pledged to foster inter-regional dialogue and cooperation through the NEAR platform.
To this end, she outlined plans to establish direct flights between Vladivostok and South Korea, resume sea routes linking Vladivostok with Sokcho, Ulsan, and Busan, and develop the “Hasan Marine Tourism Complex,” where the borders of Russia, China, and North Korea converge. She also requested cooperation from the NEAR Secretariat in creating a NEAR-related session within the EEF.
In response, Mr. Lim pledged the Secretariat’s full support for the proposals put forward by the Primorsky government and committed to exploring possible ways to organize a NEAR-related session within the EEF.
Alongside Ms. Shcherbina, the meeting was attended by Stetsko Nikolai, Deputy Prime Minister of Primorsky, Natalia Naboychenko, Ukraine’s Minister of Tourism, and Aleksei Starichkov, Head of the Agency for International Cooperation.
Relevant news link:
https://ternejskoe-r25.gosweb.gosuslugi.ru/dlya-zhiteley/novosti-i-reportazhi/novosti-193_43411.html