The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) informed the Korean government on August 10, 2009 that the ESCAP subregional office for East and North-East Asia will be established in Incheon, Republic of Korea.

※ UNESCAP has been working to establish subregional offices in East and North-East Asia, South and South-West Asia and North and Central Asia to strengthen the development pillars of the United Nations. Korea and China submitted their bid to host the subregional office.

The Korean government believed that hosting the subregional office would help Korea’s efforts to become a ‘Global Korea’ and contribute to strengthening regional cooperation in Northeast Asia, and made continuous efforts to host the subregional office by promoting its offer through various diplomatic channels and at various ESCAP events including the ESCAP Commission Session held in April 2009.

ㅇ Korea made a public announcement on its offer to host the subregional office and continuously promoted Incheon’s geographical and strategic advantage to ESCAP at the 21st Annual Consultation Meeting on the Korea-ESCAP Cooperation Fund (February 2009) and the 65th ESCAP Commission Session (April 2009).

ㅇ Korea made active efforts to promote its offer when the first assessment issued in April 2009 made China a potential candidate to host the subregional office. Korea emphasized that the host should be decided based on ESCAP’s inspection of the candidate city.

ㅇThe government made active efforts to explain Incheon’s excellent infrastructure and outstanding qualities to the ESCAP inspection team in June 2009.

The government believes that Korea’s contribution to the development of the Asia Pacific region and Incheon’s excellent infrastructure and geographical advantage made the city an ideal place to host the subregional office.

ㅇ ESCAP also plans to establish subregional offices in Southwest Asia and Central Asia. Incheon is the first city to be nominated to host the subregional office in Northeast Asia.

The UNESCAP Northeast Asia subregional office is expected to become the center of regional cooperation in Northeast Asia since it will administer the matters that require the cooperation of Korea, Japan, China, Russia, Mongolia and North Korea. The office is also expected to contribute to broadening Korea’s diplomatic ties in Asia.

The 66th ESCAP Commission Session will be held in May 2010 in Korea under the following theme.

Addressing challenges in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals:

   * Promoting a stable and supportive financial system

   * Green growth or environmentally sustainable economic growth through technology and financing

The government plans to take the establishment of the subregional office as a valuable opportunity to contribute to the development, economic cooperation and green growth of the Asia-Pacific region.

※ In April 2009, at the 65th ESCAP Commission Session, Korea made efforts to host the 66th ESCAP Commission Session in Incheon.

- Theme of 65th ESCAP Commission Session: Sustainable agriculture and food security in Asia and the Pacific