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| President Yoon Suk-yeol, front row seventh from left, and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Chey Tae-won, front row sixth from left, pose with participants in a ceremony to celebrate the launch of the civilian committee to support Busan's bid to hold the World Expo in 2030, after their meeting at Busan Port International Exhibition & Convention Center, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Park Jae-hyuk
Korea's largest conglomerates agreed to participate in the civilian committee to support Busan's bid to host the World Expo in 2030, under the leadership of Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won, who is also the chairman of SK Group.
KCCI said Tuesday that executives from 11 major Korean companies attended a ceremony that day to celebrate the launch of the committee at Busan Port International Exhibition & Convention Center (BPEX).
The 11 companies are Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG, Lotte, POSCO, Hanwha, GS, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Shinsegae and CJ, according to KCCI.
Their executives told President Yoon Suk-yeol about their specific plans to help the nation's second-largest city's attempt to host the global event, during a meeting over which he presided at BPEX.
Senior government officials and lawmakers also presented their strategies for Busan to win the race against Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, Italy's Rome and Ukraine's Odessa to be selected as the venue for the World Expo, which is one of the world's three major international events, along with the World Cup and the Olympics.
"Once we choose companies to lobby each country, we will fully use their global networks to carry out an omnidirectional campaign to host the World Expo," Chey said. "KCCI and business associations will send economic delegations to Latin American and African countries, most of which have not decided which way to vote."
The venue for the fair will be selected through a vote by the 170 Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) member countries in November of next year.
The KCCI chairman added that he will fly to Paris in June to hold a large-scale international event and business forum in the French capital, where BIE's general assembly will take place between June 20 and 21.
Yoon emphasized that the 2030 Busan World Expo is a necessary task for the entire country, saying it will be a great opportunity to share Korea's experience with the international community.
He expected the event to enable Busan to grow into a global city, helping the southeastern region become an important foothold leading the economic development of Northeast Asia.
"If necessary, I will consider sending presidential envoys," the president said.
In collaboration with 72 chambers nationwide and Korean businesspeople overseas, the conglomerates vowed to team up with the government to make every effort to support Busan's bid to host the World Expo.
They also plan to hold a business roundtable meeting, promoting Busan through their retail channels, sport teams and promotional booths.
"We will enable our futuristic cutting-edge technologies, such as 6G, robotics, metaverse, augmented reality and virtual reality, to be used for the bid," Samsung Electronics President Lee In-yong said.
Hyundai Motor President Kong Young-woon said that his company organized a taskforce to support Busan's bid to host the World Expo, based on its previous experience in supporting Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, to host the global event in 2012.
CJ ENM CEO Kang Ho-sung vowed to use the global popularity of Korean entertainment to let the world know about Busan's competitiveness.
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