On November 22, NEAR Secretary-General Lim Byung-jin visited the Embassy of Kazakhstan to South Korea to meet with Ambassador Nurgali Arystanov. At the meeting, they exchanged ideas on promoting cooperation between NEAR and the regional governments of Kazakhstan.

Mr. Lim provided an introduction to NEAR, highlighting its recent activities and the associate membership system. Then he expressed his hope that regional governments of Kazakhstan would join as NEAR associate members, which will strengthen cooperation between NEAR and Kazakhstan’s regional governments.

Mr. Arystanov appreciated Mr. Lim's detailed introduction to NEAR and its associate membership system, recognizing NEAR's significant role in fostering cooperation among local governments in Northeast Asia. He highlighted the recent development of relations between South Korea and Kazakhstan and noted that Kazakhstan's regional governments are actively pursuing exchanges and collaboration with their Korean counterparts. Furthermore, Mr. Arystanov pledged the embassy's active support in inviting Kazakhstan's regional governments to the NEAR associate membership.

In response, Mr. Arystanov expressed strong commitment to fostering collaboration between Kazakhstan and NEAR, especially by attracting Kazakhstan’s regional governments to the NEAR associate membership. He stated that he will personally meet with the representatives of Kazakh regional governments—Astana City, Turkistan Region, and Aktobe Region—at the upcoming “Korea-Central Asia Local Government Forum" on November 26 in Seoul. During this event, he pledged to personally explain about NEAR’s associate membership to the representatives and arrange a separate meeting between the NEAR Secretary-General and the Kazakh local government representatives.

The NEAR Secretariat is currently promoting its “NEAR+2” policy, which aims to expand NEAR’s outreach by including the regional governments even from Southeast Asia and Central Asia. Chuy Region of Kyrgyzstan officially became the second NEAR associate member at the 14^th NEAR High-Level Working Committee, which was held in September 2024 in Shenyang City, China.