Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon (front row, left) is signing an agreement on the 6th (local time) to resume the friendly cooperative relationship between the two regions after 12 years, following a meeting with California Governor Gavin Newsom during his first schedule of the North America business trip.
Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon, who is visiting the North American region to strengthen international exchange cooperation and attract overseas investment, met with California Governor Gavin Newsom as his first schedule and agreed to resume the friendly cooperative relationship between the two regions after 12 years.
On the 6th (local time), Governor Kim met with California Governor Gavin Newsom at the California Natural Resources Agency located in Sacramento, California, and signed a memorandum of understanding on friendly cooperation in the fields of trade and investment, climate change, human exchange, and startups.
Governor Kim said, "With the signing of the friendly cooperation agreement after 12 years, we can expect more development between Gyeonggi Province and California," adding, "Taking this agreement as an opportunity, we decided to cooperate on human exchanges between Gyeonggi youth and excellent universities in California, technology development for the climate crisis, and creating startup hubs like Silicon Valley and Gyeonggi’s Pangyo."
Governor Gavin Newsom emphasized, "California is building new global partnerships to promote climate action and grow the economy. Like California, Gyeonggi Province plays a central role in the national economy and leads innovation," adding, "Together, through our efforts, we can contribute to the development of the Pacific community."
According to the agreement, the two regions will cooperate in the areas of ▲economic and corporate development ▲trade and investment including investment and innovation ▲climate change including greenhouse gas reduction and clean mobility ▲human exchanges including entrepreneurs, startup business communities, and small and medium-sized enterprises. The agreement is valid for three years.
After signing the memorandum of understanding, Governor Kim told reporters, "Governor Newsom made a commitment, not just words," and explained the outcome of the meeting, saying, "He expressed a very strong willingness to cooperate, and the atmosphere was good."
The two governors agreed that responding to the climate crisis is important and that the two regions will take a leading role in renewable energy and climate tech both domestically and internationally. In addition, they exchanged in-depth opinions on international affairs such as US-China relations, Korea-China relations, geopolitical conflicts, and the domestic political and economic situations of major countries.
California is one of the 50 states in the United States, but with a GDP of $3.9 trillion last year, it ranks as the world’s fifth-largest economy. The northern Bay Area, centered around San Francisco and San Jose, is home to Silicon Valley and is globally renowned as a hub of the IT industry with many technology companies based there. With an area and economic scale larger than many countries, California is a local government but often engages in exchanges mostly with countries. For this reason, Gyeonggi Province introduced the meeting between Governor Kim Dong-yeon and Governor Newsom as highly significant.
Gyeonggi Province and California signed a memorandum of understanding on friendly cooperation between the two regions in 2010 in Gyeonggi Province. However, there was little exchange after 2012, and the friendly cooperation relationship naturally ended after the two-year validity period expired. Therefore, with this MOU signing, Gyeonggi Province is resuming its friendly cooperation relationship with California after 12 years, and it is expected that technological innovation and growth will be further promoted as a strategic partnership in innovative technology and future advanced industries.
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