○ Agreement to pursue substantial collaboration with Guangdong Province Governor, opening a new chapter in local diplomacy
○ The two sides agree to expand economic and cultural exchanges and reciprocal exchanges between young people and public officials
○ The two sides decide to work together to make Gyeonggi Province and Guangdong Province the world’s economic center of gravity

Governor Nam Kyung-pil attended the opening ceremony of the International e-Sports Festival (IEF) on December 5 and the first session of the Korea-China Creative Culture Industry Forum on December 6. In addition, he met with Guangdong Province Party Secretary Hu Chunhua and Governor Zhu Xiaodan and discussed matters such as holding the Gyeonggi Province Day event in the province, homestay-based reciprocal visits of young people of the two provinces, and difficulties experienced by Korean businesses in the province. He returned home in the morning of December 7 after successfully concluding his visit to the provinces of China for local diplomacy.

During the one-hour meeting with Party Secretary Hu Chunhua, who is emerging as a next-generation political leader of China, in the evening of December 6, Governor Nam Kyung-pil shared his views on the economic and cultural exchanges between the two provinces. Mr. Hu Chunhua was reportedly supposed to stay in Beijing that day but went out of his way to shorten his schedule to see Governor Nam Kyung-pil in a remarkable show of interest in the meeting.

According to Party Secretary Hu Chunhua, he expressed the wish last March for Mr. Nam to pay a visit to their province after the latter’s election as governor. “I am happy that my wish has come true. Congratulations on your election. I shortened my visit to Beijing and flew back home, taking a 5-hour flight. Let’s maintain our friendship wherever we are,” he said. The more important thing in the promotion of collaboration between two areas is friendship, he added.

“Now, I know that Mr. Hu was instrumental in my election as Gyeonggi Governor. Thank you very much for your warmhearted hospitality,” Mr. Nam Kyung-pil said.

The two provincial leaders agreed that their provinces are sandwiched between industrialized and developing countries. Based on such view, the two leaders decided to start a working-level discussion for mutual exchanges and collaboration in matters such as Guangdong’s benchmarking of the know-how of Gyeonggi’s development of small and medium -sized cities and of knowledge-based industrial complexes like Pangyo Techno Valley through the dispatch of Guangdong Province officials to the Gyeonggi Province.

A day before his meeting with Mr. Hu Chunhua, Mr. Nam Kyung-pil met with Guangdong Province Governor Zhu Xiaodan and conveyed the difficulties experienced by Korean businesses in the province. He then promised to provide positive support for the expansion of economic and cultural exchanges between the provinces.

Mr. Nam Kyung-pil also attended the opening ceremony of the International e-Sports Festival (IEF), which was supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (MCST) and co-hosted by the International Exchange Foundation (IEF), Korea Culture & Contents Agency (KOCCA), and Guangdong Provincial Office.

In his congratulatory speech during the opening ceremony, Mr. Nam Kyung-pil noted that IEF was started to promote mutual exchanges and friendship between the young people of Korea and China. “It has grown as an arena for festivals and cultural exchanges for young people all over the world. I will do my best for the promotion of activities aimed at cultural exchanges between the two countries and development of the digital content industry in the two provinces,” he vowed.

On December 6, Gyeonggi Governor Nam Kyung-pil attended the first session of the Korea-China Creative Culture Industry Forum hosted by the International Exchange Foundation (IEF). “The Korea-China FTA will lead to the expansion of bilateral exchanges − which have been focused on manufacturing − to the service industry and creative culture sectors. We at the Gyeonggi Province will work together with the Guangdong Provincial Office as prime movers of the two countries’ economy to look for win-win ways for both countries. I hope today’s forum becomes the starting point for such efforts,” Mr. Nam Kyung-pil said in his opening speech as Co-Chair of IEF.