On August 27, Governor Kim Moon-soo and Russian Maritime Province (Primorsky) Governor Vladimir Miklushevsky signed an MOU for friendly cooperation between Gyeonggi Province and Russian Maritime Province in a ceremony held at the Russian Maritime Provinceoffice.

The MOU stipulates that the two provinces cooperate with each other for the development of a long-term cooperative relationship for information exchange concerning economy, trade and culture.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office expects the MOU to help invigorate exchanges in health and medical service sectors between the two provinces. It also expects that the Russian Maritime Province Office will provide administrative support for approvals/authorizations concerning the operation of hospitals in Gyeonggi Province in the Russian province.

Russian Maritime Province, which is located close to the Korean Peninsula, has about 30,000 Russian-Koreans, the descendants of settlers from the end of the 19th Century. Korean independence fighters were based there during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea.

Russian Maritime Province is the center of Russia’s activities in the Far East and has infinite growth potential with its wide areas of land, natural resources, and geographical conditions. Many leading South Korean businesses, including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor, and Kia Motors, are carrying out brisk business activities there.

At present, Russia is pushing ahead with projects designed to enhance the quality of medical service with the participation of foreign institutions. The U-Health Care Center was established in Vladivostok in June 2012 as a South Korea-Russia joint venture, but it experienced difficulty in the commencement of its operation due to a delay in obtaining all of the necessary authorizations by local authorities displaying a lack of cooperation in administrative matters.

Under the said MOU, the two provinces agreed to cooperate with each other in energy and power supply sectors, as well as matters such as exemption of corporate tax and property tax in the Greenfield Special Industrial Zone, which was created to encourage South Korean businesses’ investment in Russian Maritime Province.

At the MOU-signing ceremony, Governor Kim Moon-soo said, “South Korea and Russian Maritime Province have shared history for the past 150 years. Our independence fighters were based there during the colonial period. If a road and a railroad linking South Korea with the Russian province are opened, the two provinces will have a lot more reason to cooperate with each other.”