The organizing committee of the Daejeon UCLG World Congress said the "7th UCLG World Congress" is the world's largest international conference between local governments, wrapped up its five-day journey after the closing ceremony on the 14th.
The closing ceremony was attended by about 800 people. Emilia Saiz, the World Secretary-General of UCLG, announced the results of the general meeting and a highlight video. Congratulatory speeches from the mayors of Montevideo of Uruguay, Konya of Turkey, and The Hague of the Netherlands, and farewell speeches and commemorative photos from Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo (이창우), the next president and host of this year's General Election.
Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo said in a farewell speech, "Daejeon City will actively contribute to the development and process of UCLG as a UCLG President City and take the lead in expanding exchanges and cooperation between member cities." Meanwhile, at a global board meeting ahead of the closing ceremony, it was decided that the four candidates running for president will each take the presidency for a year.
Mayor Lee also stressed the importance of win-win and reciprocal cooperation between cities in global crises such as climate change and peace threats, saying, "Let's act to achieve meaningful changes in our cities, starting with this general meeting." He said at a farewell dinner, "Today's event is not an event to announce the end of the general meeting, but an event to expand the path of solidarity and cooperation between cities," adding, "I hope the visit to Daejeon will be remembered as a beautiful memory for a long time."
UCLG organizers, who prepared for the last event, said, "This general meeting had many concerns inside and outside due to the global infectious disease epidemic such as COVID-19, monkey pox and the unstable international situation, but it is meaningful in that it was overcoming it and was considered the largest-ever general meeting."
The Daejeon UCLG General Assembly registered 6,200 people, and made several achievements, including the establishment of an official track named after the host city, reflecting the city name in the document name of the general meeting, and promotion to the UCLG president city.
