Gyeonggi Governor Calls for UN Support
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Friday to discuss inter-Korean cooperation in new and renewable energy development.
On the eighth day of the governor's foreign direct investment (FDI) mission to the U.S., Kim held a meeting with Ban in New York and asked that the U.N. chief endorse the province's energy efforts through a video message.
The province plans to play the video during an international environmental seminar, to be participated in by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the World Bank and Samsung Economic Research Institute, slated for early next year.
``Gyeonggi is working on transferring agricultural technology to the North and setting up tree nurseries and pig farms,'' said Kim, adding that the province hopes to cooperate with U.N. bodies to provide new energy sources to North Korea.
Ban welcomed the request, saying that political implications may get in the way when going through the central government North Korea efforts, so a regional government exchange may be more effective.
The secretary-general acknowledged the size of Gyeonggi Province, stressing that the power of regional authorities and NGOs are growing in today's society, and added that the U.N. was also increasingly working on a more regional level.
Gyeonggi Province, the country's largest self-governing province, has a population of 11 million.
The province's energy project consists of building a facility to produce energy out of animal waste from farms in the North and Gyeonggi area.
Efforts are currently being made to win funds from the GEF and FAO, which have already done similar work in China, Vietnam and Thailand.