Secretary General Lim Byung-jin visited the Secretariat of the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) in Seoul on July 3 (Friday) and met with Secretary General Kim Jeong-kee. During the meeting, Secretary General Lim introduced NEAR's recent activities and exchanged views on matters of mutual interest.
Secretary General Lim noted that NEAR has continued to expand its membership and activities into Central Asia and Southeast Asia, while the platform has also become increasingly active.
▲He further pointed out that among Korea's 16 metropolitan governments, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is the only one that has not yet joined NEAR.
▲As Seoul has played a leading role in international cooperation among regional governments by hosting and supporting the secretariats of WeGO and CITYNET, he requested WeGO's support in encouraging Seoul to join NEAR so that it can also take a leading role in promoting interregional cooperation in Northeast Asia.
In response, Secretary General Kim Jeong-kee stated that the decision ultimately rests with the Seoul Metropolitan Government. However, recognizing NEAR's growing role in cooperation among regional governments in Northeast Asia, he said that he would convey the matter of Seoul's potential membership in NEAR to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
Meanwhile, WeGO (the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization) is an international organization headquartered in Seoul. It is the world's first public-private partnership (PPP) international association in the smart city sector, established by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in September 2010 to promote cooperation and exchanges on smart cities among cities and businesses worldwide while fostering sustainable development. Launched with 50 member cities at its inception, WeGO has since grown to include 202 member cities, institutions, and companies.