At the Governors Association of Korea’s "Local Diplomacy Best Practices Contest"
Busan-Liverpool City Region recognized for securing national funding and MOUs
The case of "local diplomacy" promoted by Busan City in cooperation with Liverpool, United Kingdom, has been recognized for its achievements.
On December 14, Busan City announced that it had received the Grand Prize in the "2025 Local Diplomacy Best Practices Contest" organized by the Governors Association of Korea. The award-winning case is the "Korea-UK City Innovation Twins Project (Busan City-Liverpool City Region)." The project was highly praised for its innovative local diplomacy model and tangible results. The awards ceremony was held on December 12 in Seoul during the "Glocal Learning Local Diplomacy Best Practices Benchmarking Program."
This project is an example of a local government leading substantial international cooperation. It was cited as a model for other municipalities, particularly in terms of the specificity of its achievements and the establishment of a sustainable cooperation system. Busan City presented its cooperation outcomes in five key areas: smart city and Internet of Things (IoT), smart ports, clean energy and carbon neutrality, healthcare, and marine mobility.
Since 2023, Busan City has continued its collaboration with the Liverpool City Region, securing 1.3 billion won in national funding from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. It has also signed a next-generation marine mobility international joint research agreement with the European Association of Marine and Maritime Experts, and a global hub city advanced industry development agreement with the UK Department for Business and Trade.
Going forward, the city plans to expand the scope of cooperation between Busan and Liverpool and strengthen its global cooperation network by participating in international joint research and development programs such as Horizon Europe.
Kim Hyunjae, Director of Tourism and MICE, stated, "We will continue results-oriented local diplomacy to ensure that international cooperation brings tangible benefits to our citizens."
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