By Lee Jon-young

Gyeonggi-do Governor Kim Dong-yeon met with a number of foreign dignitaries who have traveled to Korea to attend the 8th Asia-Pacific Cities Forum to discuss cooperation with Gyeonggi-do.

On the afternoon of Oct. 24, Governor Kim met with Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Secretary-General of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), an organization of the United Nations (UN), at the Gyeonggi-do Government Office. 

"Gyeonggi-do is the most active local government in responding to climate change, and the role of businesses is very important in this," he said. "I hope that businesses will respond to climate change more actively through environmental, social and transparent management (ESG) and learn and realize a lot through the network."

"I know that Gyeonggi-do and Suwon are attracting many of South Korea's major corporations," said Amida Salsiah Alisjahbana, adding "We believe that the private sector has an essential strategic role to play in advancing climate action."

Alisjahbana's visit to Gyeonggi Province follows an invitation from Governor Kim Dong-yeon. In July, Kim visited the headquarters of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) in Bangkok, Thailand, where he met with Alisjahbana to discuss ways to collaborate. At the time, Kim invited Alisjahbana to visit Gyeonggi Province, where she had announced plans to visit South Korea in October.

Song Doo-geun, Vice President of Samsung Electronics, Park Ho-hyun, Vice President of SK Hynix, Lim Dong-ah, Director of Naver, and Oh Gyo-sun, CEO of Shower Plus were also present at the meeting to discuss specific cooperation on ESG.

The United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is one of the regional commissions under the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with 62 member states, and plays a central role in economic and social cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. 

Its main activities include research, policy formulation, and advisory on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The sustainability and climate change responses of the SDGs are highly relevant to the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities of companies, encouraging private sector participation. The meeting between Kim and Alisjahbana was aimed at discussing ways to promote the participation of private companies in ESG.

Kim then met with David Nga Kor Ming, Malaysia's Minister of Local Government Development, to discuss ways to boost bilateral cooperation between Gyeonggi-do and Malaysia.

"Malaysia has a very important position in ASEAN, and I think she is a partner that can have strategic cooperation with Korea," Kim said. "I hope that Gyeonggi-do, which is the center of Korea's economy and industry, and Malaysia will have a good cooperation."

 
Minister David Nga Kor Ming said, "The Ministry of Local Government Development is responsible for policies that are close to the people, from housing and urban planning to waste, pawnshops and money lending. We hope to be a good partner with Gyeonggi-do, and we want to learn a lot from them."

Malaysia's Ministry of Local Government Development is the central ministry responsible for supporting local government operations, national comprehensive planning, housing supply and policies (such as smart cities), and solid waste management, and is working with Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport to build smart cities and with Korea Environment Agency on sustainable waste disposal.

As the center of the Islamic finance and halal market and a key link in the semiconductor supply chain, Malaysia is the third-largest economy in ASEAN in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, making cooperation even more important. 

The province expects the meeting to expand opportunities for exchange and cooperation in various fields related to local government operations with Malaysia, with which it has had relatively little interaction compared to other major ASEAN countries.