By Lee Jang-woo

Lee Jang-woo, mayor of Daejeon Metropolitan City

I am pleased to announce that the 7th United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Congress will be held in Daejeon, Korea, from Oct. 10 to 14, 2022. This congress is very special as it is the first such meeting being held since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Daejeon is located in the center of Korea and has spearheaded science and technology through its excellent scientific infrastructure. As a science city, Daedeok Innopolis located in Daejeon, is known as the Silicon Valley of Korea and is home to over 70 government-funded and advanced research institutes. Daejeon has a convention center that can accommodate 3,000 people at a time, and the best MICE infrastructure in Korea, including a shopping mall with department stores and hotels, as well as a cultural and arts complex, making the city the best place for the congress.

Nowadays, cities around the world are facing many challenges. People are suffering from infectious diseases, natural disasters due to climate change, wars, disparities caused by economic and social inequality and poor quality of life. I would like to express my sincerest regret to those who are going through difficult times, and I believe that it is time to find ways to overcome these difficulties and focus on solidarity and cooperation with the global community.

Against this backdrop, we hope that many commitments and agreements will be made between cities under the theme of "Local and Regional Governments Breaking Through as One." This will be a historic congress that seeks new breakthroughs for the prosperity and development of all.

As a responsible member of the global community, Daejeon plans to discuss the essentials of the congress, people, planet and government based on Korea's scientific achievements for the sustainable development of the city, and share advanced democracy, local autonomy and systematic public administration systems.

In addition to the congress, we have also prepared festivals in which citizens from all over the world can participate. You can experience hallyu, such as K-pop and K-food, which are famous all over the world.

The 7th UCLG Congress will not only be a meeting, but a global celebration with the whole world. I believe that this congress will change the direction of future congresses.

As the mayor of the host city, I feel very honored that we can discuss global issues in Daejeon, and at the same time I feel a great responsibility as this will be different from the six previous congresses. Daejeon has made every effort to make this event a fruitful and special occasion where people can discuss global issues that go beyond city and national issues.

In the past three years, the citizens of the world have made great efforts to overcome COVID-19. I would like to invite all of you, who have gone through these difficult times, to our congress.

I look forward to seeing you at the 2022 Daejeon UCLG World Congress in October.

Lee Jang-woo is the mayor of Daejeon Metropolitan City.