On June 3, Secretary-General LIM Byung-jin welcomed HE Juntian, communist party secretary of Yiyang City in Hunan Province and president of the Hunan Provincial People’s Association of Friendship with Foreign Countries, who visited the NEAR Secretariat with his delegation and exchanged ideas on the ways to promote mutual cooperation.

After welcoming the delegation, Mr. Lim provided the recent activities of NEAR and the introduction to its Chinese member regions. Also, he expressed his appreciation to Hunan Province for the essential roles it has played since it officially joined the NEAR membership in 2005 such as the establishment of the Subcommittee on Innovation+ in 2018 and serving as the 11^th NEAR chair. Mr. Lim promised the NEAR Secretariat’s entire support for the successful holding of the Subcommittee on Innovation+ which will take place in October this year.

Communist Party Secretary He acknowledged the significant contribution that NEAR, the largest local-exchange platform in Northeast Asia, has been making to promote regional exchange, cooperation, peace, and development. Then, he hoped for the NEAR Secretariat’s continued interest and support to ensure that the Subcommittee on Innovation+ (themed “Eco-friendly Development”) is held successfully in Hunan Province in October this year. Also, he described Yiyang, a prefecture-level city in Hunan Province, as a hub of business-friendly environment and investment for food industry, new type of energy, and equipment manufacturing, requesting NEAR’s assistance as an international platform to foster exchange and economic & trade cooperation with other NEAR members.