On September 24, Governor Li Lecheong of Liaoning Province, the NEAR chair, warmly greeted NEAR Secretary-General Lim Byung-jin and the representatives of NEAR members who came to participate in the 14^th NEAR High-Level Working Committee. A preliminary meeting took place, followed by a welcome dinner. 

The meeting was joined by 20 representative officials from five non-Chinese countries—Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan—including Dzhumagaziev Kanat, governor of Chuy Region of Kyrgyzstan; Kochetova Ekaterina, deputy prime-minister of the Republic of Buryatia of Russia; and Jang Sanggil, vice-mayor of Pohang City of South Korea.

Among the Chinese participants were Xing Haiming, former Chinese ambassador to South Korea and ambassador of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China; seven dignitaries from the People’s Government of Liaoning Province; eight participants of Chinese member governments including Ningxia Autonomous and Qinghai Province.

Delivering his words of greetings, Governor Li provided information on the recent developments of Liaoning Province and stated “Let us commit ourselves to the mutual prosperity and growth of Northeast Asia by deepening practical cooperation among NEAR member governments.”

Next, Mr. Lim NEAR took the podium and said, “NEAR is expanding the scope of its membership, with more members and high-level officials actively participating in its events. It is becoming increasingly trusted and influential as a multilateral exchange platform.” He added, “Our association aims to continue promoting practical cooperation, based on the deep trust among our member governments.”

Additionally, representatives of participants—Dzhumagaziev Kanat, governor of Chuy Region of Kyrgyzstan; Kochetova Ekaterina, deputy prime-minister of the Republic of Buryatia; Jang Sanggil, vice-mayor of Pohang City, Sota Yuko, deputy director general of the Department of Environment and Civic Affairs at the Shimane Prefectural Government; Chuluunbor Ganzorig, adviser at the governor’s office in Sukhbaatar Province—expressed in their speeches their hopes to deepen the cooperation across various areas using the NEAR platform and to promote mutual prosperity. 

After the preliminary meeting, Governor Li invited all 90 participants of the 14^th NEAR High-Level Working Committee to a Welcome Dinner.