Gyeonggi Province's International Cooperation and Exchange in the Eighth Popular Elected Term: "Sowing Seeds for Korea's Future"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gapdong] The most distinctive aspect of Gyeonggi Province's activities during the first half of the eighth popular elected term is undoubtedly the field of international exchange and diplomatic activities. Governor Kim Dong-yeon has met with major global figures while presenting an 'Innovation Alliance' to turn various global crises—advanced industry, climate, and economic challenges—into new opportunities. It is also a notable characteristic that not only has the governor visited globally, but major figures from around the world have also visited Gyeonggi Province. Those he has met range from key American politicians to presidents, prime ministers of various nations, ambassadors of major countries serving in Korea, to world-class business leaders. Over approximately two years from the launch of the eighth popular elected term through June, Governor Kim Dong-yeon has met with over 160 key figures from 37 countries. This report outlines the first half of the eighth popular elected term's international cooperation and diplomatic efforts, sowing seeds for Korea's future.

■ Meeting with Foreign Leaders and Promoting Economic Exchange and Innovation Alliance

The United States is the country Gyeonggi Province has engaged with most frequently to strengthen international cooperation. Shortly after taking office, the governor visited the eastern United States and formed a consensus on an Innovation Alliance with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer regarding strategic initiatives such as eco-friendly mobility and secondary batteries. He also agreed with Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin through a phone call to work on activating relations between the two regions.

Upon returning home that same month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and an international trade delegation visited to hold a trade and investment partnership event, expanding economic exchange between the two regions and proposing an Innovation Alliance regarding strategic industries such as biotech and solar power generation. Prior to Governor DeSantis's visit, the two regions held a webinar between Gyeonggi Province and Florida on business and investment environments in Florida.

Governor Kim attended the Davos Forum in January this year, exchanging with political and economic leaders worldwide, and met with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in a friendly conversation. In May, he met with all four governors of four states and provinces—California, Washington, and Arizona in the United States, and British Columbia in Canada—establishing a cooperation framework.

In California, he met with Governor Gavin Newsom and agreed to reestablish friendly cooperative relations between the two regions after 12 years, and decided to promote exchange and cooperation in climate change response, advanced industries, startups, and people-to-people exchange. With Washington and Arizona, he opened new channels of cooperation. Both regions had been uncharted territories for Gyeonggi Province cooperation, making them the governor's first visits as a provincial governor. In Arizona, he met with Governor Katie Hobbs and signed a friendly cooperation agreement. In British Columbia, Canada's sister province of Gyeonggi Province, he received state-visit-level hospitality and further solidified inter-regional cooperation. Notably, contrary to expectations that the premier would find it difficult to attend due to massive wildfires, Premier David Eby visited Governor Kim, demonstrating a strong bond.

The relationship with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria continued to produce positive results, which is impressive. Governor Kim Dong-yeon met with Mayor Gloria in October last year when he visited Korea with a San Diego economic delegation. Governor Kim delayed his departure by one day and held a welcoming event on a Sunday, demonstrating his sincerity in receiving Mayor Gloria and his party. This left a deep impression not only on Mayor Gloria but also on the 38 economic delegation members present. Subsequently, San Diego visited Siheung City, which Gyeonggi Province connected through the biotech industry, and signed an economic cooperation agreement. UC San Diego, a member of the San Diego economic delegation, decided to participate in the Gyeonggi Youth Ladder Program this year. During his visit to North America, Governor Kim visited Biocom CA, America's largest biotech association, and Illumina, a leading company in genomic analysis research, to propose cooperation—all of whom were members of the San Diego economic delegation.

He also established noteworthy cooperative relations with China. During his China visit in November last year, Governor Kim met with Hao Feng, Party Secretary of Liaoning Province, and Hu Chunlin, Politburo Standing Committee member and vice premier of the State Council overseeing economic affairs, to discuss strengthening inter-local government cooperation. In particular, Vice Premier Hu Chunlin, as a key figure overseeing China's economy, was highly evaluated for discussing economic issues and strengthening exchange during this important time for Korea-China cooperation. Party Secretary Hao Feng visited Gyeonggi Province in April for a second meeting with Governor Kim, deepening the 31-year achievements between Liaoning and Gyeonggi Province and signing an enhanced cooperation agreement covering economic, industrial, cultural, sports, and educational fields. At Governor Kim's invitation, Party Secretary Hao also met with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul during his visit to Korea. This was the first visit by a Chinese provincial party secretary to Korea since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, making it significant in that the local cooperation between Gyeonggi Province and Liaoning has contributed to improving Korea-China relations.

He also conducted extensive exchange activities with foreign ambassadors to Korea. Since meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg in November 2022, Governor Kim Dong-yeon watched the KBO (Korea Baseball Organization) League opening game held in Suwon with the ambassador in April 2023, strengthening innovation economic cooperation through "baseball diplomacy." In September, he visited Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek with the U.S. ambassador and met with Commander of U.S. Forces Korea Paul Lacamera, 8th Army Commander Willard Burleson, and Deputy Commander of the U.S. 7th Air Force Ryan Kinnie, discussing ways to strengthen communication and cooperation between Gyeonggi Province and the U.S. military in Korea while continuing regular meetings for the Innovation Alliance. Multiple diplomats including U.K. Ambassador to Korea Colin Crooks, Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming, and Latvian Ambassador to Korea Aris Vigantis continue to maintain cooperative relations with Gyeonggi Province. Additionally, he met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Polish Parliamentary Speaker Andrzej Jaroch, Catalan President Pere Aragonès, Île-de-France President Valérie Pécresse, and Vietnamese State President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, among other key figures from various countries, to discuss cooperation measures.

■ Multi-faceted Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment

The area Gyeonggi Province has most focused on during the eighth popular elected term in international exchange is undoubtedly attracting foreign investment. Attending the Davos Forum in January this year, Governor Kim exchanged with global figures while encouraging world business leaders to invest in Gyeonggi Province.

Particularly noteworthy was the special session titled "Gyeonggi Province and Innovators" in which Governor Kim Dong-yeon participated as a moderator during the Davos Forum. In this session, Governor Kim stated, "Gyeonggi Province is the center of Korea's economy and advanced industries," and requested investment from global startups. He actively promoted that if investors are seeking an investment destination, Gyeonggi Province is the optimal location, citing the "Pangyo+20 Project," which aims to create startup space of 660,000 square meters (2 million pyeong) across 20 or more regional bases centered on Pangyo Techno Valley, Korea's Silicon Valley. Startup executives participating in the session showed positive responses, saying they wanted to do business with Korea related to advanced mobility industries, increasing the potential for future investment attraction.

There were cases where these efforts translated into actual investment. During a North American business trip in May this year, Governor Kim held two video conferences to attract investment from a world-leading semiconductor materials company and encouraged investment. Despite the chief executive officer's absence from the first meeting, Governor Kim did not give up and requested a second meeting. In the second meeting, the chief executive officer expressed an intention to make a massive $1 billion investment.

■ Solidarity with Local Governments and International Organizations Worldwide

Gyeonggi Province is strengthening solidarity by contacting international organizations and local governments around the world for mutual cooperation in various fields.

In July, Governor Kim Dong-yeon discussed activating mutual tourism exchange with Piphat Ratchakitprakarn, Thailand's Minister of Tourism and Sports, and held the "2023 Gyeonggi Tourism Briefing in Bangkok" to attract foreign tourists to Gyeonggi Province. In October, to strengthen exchange at the level of inter-provincial governments between Korea and China, he visited Liaoning Province, which was the first sister province Gyeonggi established ties with in China, and jointly hosted a tourism cooperation and exchange meeting for the first time as Chinese group tourism resumed. About 20 days after Governor Kim's visit to Liaoning Province, an economic and trade delegation composed of 28 Liaoning enterprises visited Gyeonggi Province and held a Gyeonggi Province-Liaoning economic and trade seminar.

Positioning himself as a "climate governor," he has actively pursued responses to global climate crisis. During his Thailand visit in July 2023, he met with UNESCAP Secretary-General Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana and UNEP Asia-Pacific Director Dechen Shering to discuss environmental issues, including the role of local governments in responding to climate change. On this occasion, Governor Kim Dong-yeon stated, "Unlike the lagging approach of the Korean government, Gyeonggi Province is acting most actively on climate change in Korea. One of my nicknames is 'Climate Governor,'" demonstrating strong commitment to climate crisis response.

Last month, he met with Jay Inslee, the Washington governor known as America's "climate governor," sharing recognition on joint responses to the climate crisis and reaching agreement on forming a working-level consultative body to further solidify cooperation.