Gyeonggi-do Hosts ICLEI World Local Governments at Goyang KINTEX

Gyeonggi Provincial Government Gwanggyo New Office Building

Gyeonggi Province has attracted the Korean office of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) to Kintex in Goyang.

ICLEI is scheduled to officially begin operations at Kintex in April, with the hosting period set until 2027. The province will provide budget support for five years.

ICLEI is an international organization officially launched in 1990 at the "World Congress of Local Governments" held at the United Nations (UN) headquarters. Its full name is the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) for Sustainability. It works with over 2,600 member local governments from 131 countries worldwide to strengthen local governments' capacity to implement sustainable development policies and support international exchanges. The headquarters is located in Germany, with offices in 13 countries including South Korea. In South Korea, 55 local governments including Gyeonggi Province, Seoul, and Goyang are members and actively engage in exchanges.

The Korean office was first hosted by the Korea Foundation for International Local Governments in 2002, then moved through Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Suwon City, and Dangjin City before arriving at Gyeonggi Province.

Gyeonggi Province proposed the hosting in October last year, and the hosting was confirmed in December of the same year through an agreement between the province and the ICLEI global headquarters.

Considering factors such as balanced development between southern and northern Gyeonggi and transportation infrastructure, the office was finally relocated to Kintex in Goyang. Over the next five years, Gyeonggi Province will collaborate with the ICLEI Korean office to promote projects in various fields including sustainable development, carbon neutrality, and biodiversity.

Park Rae-hyuk, Director of the Climate and Environmental Policy Division of the province, expressed expectations, saying, "The need for domestic and international policy cooperation has emerged more than ever to address environmental issues caused by climate change. Utilizing the ICLEI network representing local governments worldwide will greatly help share Gyeonggi Province’s policies with local governments around the world and solve various environmental problems."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.