On October 24, Secretary-General LIM Byung-jin held a pre-conference meeting with the governors and vice governors of Mongolian member regions participating in the 14th NEAR General Assembly. 

Mr. Lim expressed his gratitude that half of the Mongolian governors attended the General Assembly and encouraged them to continue actively participating in NEAR activities. He also introduced activities to communicate with Mongolian governors since his inauguration as the sixth NEAR Secretary General. 

In response, BATBAYAR Ariun-Erdene, governor of Bulgan Aima expressed his gratitude for the invitation to the NEAR General Assembly and the NEAR Secretariat's selection of its Bulgan government official as the Mongolian resident official at the NEAR Secretariat.

GOMBODORJ Batsuuri, governor of Govisumber Aimag said that Govisumber Aimag is the youngest aimag in Mongolia, and emphasized that Mongolia is working to recover its economy, which has been weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic. He expressed his desire for the aimag to conduct exchanges with other countries in Northeast Asia for investment and environmental opportunities. He also wished the General Assembly great success.

In addition, JIJIGKHEN Saintsog, vice governor of Selenge Aimag, introduced that it is his fourth time participating in the NEAR General Assembly after meeting Secretary-General LIM Byung-jin at the China-Mongolia Expo held in September in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. He also mentioned that the NEAR Secretariat is considering sending a delegation from Selenge Aimag to participate in a training program for officials from NEAR member regions.

CHULUUN Chimed, governor of Uvs Aimag introduced that the aimag has been actively participating in NEAR activities both online and offline since joining NEAR in 2006, particularly in NEAR activities. Students from Uvs Aimag have participated in and won prizes in the NEAR Youth Art Contest year after year. He said that he would like to promote youth and government official exchanges through NEAR in the future. Furthermore, he noted that this General Assembly is critical as a venue for member regions from the five countries to conduct exchange. 

ENKHBAT Bolormaa, governor of Khovd Aimag said that local cooperation is very important and expressed his appreciation for NEAR in that regard. He continued that the current international political landscape is strained, it is necessary to strengthen local government cooperation, and suggested three things: activating exchange in border crossing areas, promoting energy cooperation projects, and revitalizing the tourism industry. 

In particular, she introduced that Khovd Aimag is promoting a hydroelectric power plant project as part of Mongolia's new development policy and is at the forefront of renewable energy in Mongolia. She also expressed her desire to cooperate with NEAR member regions in areas such as population inflow policy to develop the aimag. She requested the support of the NEAR Secretariat.

PILJEE Lkhagvajav, governor of Khuvsgul Aimag expressed his gratitude for the invitation and said that there many Korean tourists visited Mongolia this time, to Khvsgul Aimag in particular. He also said that he would visit Daejeon West District, which has an exchange relationship with Khuvsgul Aimag, on October 26 and 27 after participating in the General Assembly.

The meeting was attended by seven governors and one vice governor from Bulgan Aimag, Khovd Aimag, Govisumber Aimag, Khuvsgul Aimag, Ovs Aimag, Sukhbaatar Aimag, Tuv Aimag, Dornod Aimag, and Dundgovi Aimag from Mongolia, and ten governors and vice governors from Selenge Aimag.