Gyeonggi Province to host the “2010 NEAR General Assembly”, joined by 67 regional governments from 6 Northeast Asian countries

A new way has been paved for Gyeonggi Province to become a hub for exchanges among Northeast Asian countries.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 2nd that it will be hosting the 7th NEAR General Assembly. The decision to have Gyeonggi Province host the event was made in a unanimous vote from 31 regional governments from 5 countries (excluding North Korea) at the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments (NEAR) Working Committee Meeting held in Jinan City, Shandong Province, China on the 3rd of last month.

The NEAR General Assembly is the biggest international event in Northeast Asia, where 67 regional governments from 6 countries – South Korea, North Korea, China, Japan, Mongolia, and Russia – meet every other year to discuss ways to achieve peace and enhance exchanges.

Gyeonggi Province plans to set the 2010 event apart from previous events by promoting its state-of-the-art industries, demonstrating its cutting-edge technologies, and providing a range of culture and tourism-related events, while at the same time, will exploit the event as an opportunity to develop the exhibition and convention industry, which the Province is fostering as its next-generation growth engine.

NEAR was first established in 1996 by 29 regional governments from four Northeast Asian countries (South Korea, Japan, China, Russia), with North Gyeongsang Province of Korea spearheading the initiative. The NEAR Secretariat, the first headquarters for an international organization to be established in Korea, is located in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

The NEAR General Assembly was held in Busan in September of last year, and the 6th General Assembly will be held next year in Shandong Province, China.