Kim Dong-yeon Holds Consecutive Meetings with UN ESCAP Secretary-General and Malaysian Local Government Minister to Discuss Cooperation

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon warmly shakes hands with Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Secretary-General of UNESCAP, who visited the Gyeonggi Provincial Government on the 24th.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon held successive meetings with foreign dignitaries visiting Korea to attend the 8th Asia-Pacific Urban Forum to discuss cooperation plans with Gyeonggi Province.

On the 24th, Governor Kim met with Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office in Suwon. He stated, "Gyeonggi Province is one of the most proactive local governments in responding to climate change, and the role of businesses is also extremely important. Through Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management, I hope companies will respond more actively to climate change and learn and implement many things through networking."

In response, Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana said, "I understand that Gyeonggi Province and Suwon City have attracted many major Korean conglomerates. I believe the private sector must play an essential strategic role in accelerating climate action."

Executive Secretary Alisjahbana’s visit to Gyeonggi Province was at the invitation of Governor Kim.

In July, Governor Kim visited the UN ESCAP headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, and met with Executive Secretary Alisjahbana to discuss cooperation plans. At that time, Governor Kim proposed a visit to Gyeonggi Province to Executive Secretary Alisjahbana, who had announced plans to visit Korea in October.

The meeting was also attended by ESG officers from major and small-to-medium enterprises in the province, including Song Du-geun, Vice President of Samsung Electronics; Park Ho-hyun, Vice President of SK Hynix; Lim Dong-a, Director of Naver; and Oh Gyo-seon, CEO of Showerplus Co., Ltd., where they discussed specific cooperation related to ESG.

The UN ESCAP is one of the regional commissions under the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with 62 member countries participating, playing a central role in economic and social cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Its main activities include research, policy development, and advisory services to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The sustainability of the SDGs and climate change response are highly related to corporate ESG activities, encouraging private sector participation.

The meeting between Governor Kim and Executive Secretary Alisjahbana was to discuss ways to activate private companies’ participation in ESG.

On the same day, Governor Kim also met with David Nga Kor Ming, Minister of Local Government Development of Malaysia, to discuss ways to promote exchange and cooperation between Gyeonggi Province and Malaysia.

At the meeting, Governor Kim said, "Malaysia holds a very important position within ASEAN and is a strategic partner for cooperation with Korea. I hope Gyeonggi Province, the economic and industrial center of the Republic of Korea, and Malaysia can establish a good cooperative relationship."

In response, Minister Nga said, "The Ministry of Local Government Development is responsible for people-centered policies ranging from housing, urban planning, waste management, pawnshops, to money lending. We hope to become good partners with Gyeonggi Province and want to learn a lot from Gyeonggi."

The Malaysian Ministry of Local Government Development is a central ministry responsible for supporting local government operations, comprehensive national land planning, housing supply and policies (including smart cities), and solid waste management. It is cooperating with Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on smart city development and with the Korea Environment Corporation on sustainable waste treatment.

Malaysia, a central hub for Islamic finance and the halal market as well as a key link in the semiconductor supply chain, ranks third in ASEAN in GDP per capita and is an economic center of ASEAN, making cooperation increasingly important.

Gyeonggi Province expects that this meeting will expand opportunities for exchange and cooperation with Malaysia, which has had relatively less interaction compared to other major ASEAN countries, in various fields related to local government operations.

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