WeGO invites ASEAN leaders to mayoral conference in Seoul
August 25, 2019
BANGKOK – WeGO met with ASEAN governors, mayors, and other local leaders at key events this month in Bangkok, and delivered invitations to its WeGO-ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) Mayoral Conference to take place in Seoul from November 21 to 22.
In a heavy push to support the 26-member network of pilot cities across the ten countries of ASEAN, WeGO’s Secretary General Kyong-yul Lee announced his plans for the mayoral conference to the plenary of ASEAN and G20 nations at the ASCN Annual Meeting organized by Thailand’s Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) from August 22 to 24. The event, which saw over 1,200 representatives from ASCN, China, Japan, Korea, and the United States, along with Thai local governments and locally based corporations and institutions, was this year’s second and last carried out for ASCN by the Government of Thailand as ASEAN Chair, following a workshop in June.
In his speech, SG Lee encouraged the strengthening of both local leadership and national support for ASCN, as an important initiative by and for ASEAN. He welcomed the leaders of current and prospective ASCN members to Seoul, where WeGO will matchmake ASEAN local governments with Korean and other international partners for the funding, development, and implementation of action plans across a broad range of smart city areas. The mayoral conference is scheduled only days ahead of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit in Busan, which will celebrate 30 years of relations between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea.
On the sidelines of the sessions in Bangkok, SG Lee further met with the Deputy Governor of Bangkok along with stakeholders from DEPA and United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (UCLG-ASPAC), to discuss their contribution to the mayoral conference. WeGO also met with staff from the ASEAN Secretariat to explore ways in which the organizations could cooperate on breakout sessions and other features of the event.
At the end of the annual meeting, WeGO’s Program Director additionally took part in the 5th ASEAN Mayors Forum (AMF), to further promote the mayoral conference to local leaders in the region.