Kim Hyun-bin began his journalism career at Arirang TV from 2012 to 2017, specializing in defense, foreign affairs and the economy. In 2018, he joined The Korea Times, covering society and business, and is currently responsible for embassy affairs.
Public-private 'One Team' strategy key to Busan's Expo campaign
Genesis electric vehicles are dispatched at the Davos Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 16, to promote Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group
By Kim Hyun-bin
By Kim Hyun-bin
Korea's government and private sector are cooperating closely to win the contest to host the World Expo 2030 in Busan. They have been busy preparing for the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) inspection team, which arrived in the country, Sunday, to check on the preparation status for the Expo.
The BIE inspection team will continue its on-site inspection of Korea until April 7. The inspection results will help decide whether the global event will come to Korea in 2030.
The team consists of eight people ― the head of the inspection team, the secretary-general, three representatives of member countries and three secretariats. They will check the feasibility of the proposed Expo site and conduct various inspections.
Four cities ― Korea's Busan, Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, Italy's Rome and Ukraine's Odesa ― are competing to host the World Expo 2030. The BIE team has already finished its inspection of Riyadh.
Lee Kyung-ho, head of the support group for the Bid Committee for World Expo 2030, who was sent from the Ministry of Trade, Energy and Industry, says the strong cooperation between the government and private sector is one of the key strengths that will help Busan win the Expo bid.
Lee Kyung-ho, head of the support group for the Bid Committee for World Expo 2030
“The biggest advantage and strength of Korea's Expo promotion activities is the cooperation between the government and the private sector, becoming one team, which is the biggest differentiating point from other competitors. All our major companies have global networks, know-how and experience. Companies and the government can utilize their channels to better host the Expo,” Lee said.
“Also, the government gives conglomerate chiefs and executives the titles of presidential special envoy or diplomatic envoy allowing them to go to countries and conduct Expo-promoting activities. If there was no such title, it would be difficult for them to meet with foreign heads of state.”
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In addition to active government and private sector cooperation, Lee emphasized that Korea has unique traits that could appeal to BIE members.
“In our case, Korea has achieved industrialization in a short period of time, and now is an industrial and technological powerhouse. Also, we are a powerhouse in the culture industry as well based on K-culture,” Lee said. “In fact, these traits can be said to be unique to our country that none of our competitors have. We can emphasize those parts, whether through presentations during this inspection, or we can appeal these factors when the inspection team meets with ministers and vice ministers of our country.”
Samsung Electronics launches promotional videos for Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030 via electronic display boards in London's Piccadilly Square in March. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
The inspection team saw the first presentation in Seoul on April 3 and interviewed personnel from the Korean government and the National Assembly. On April 4, they will travel to Busan on an exclusive KTX bullet train from Seoul Station to Busan Station. A large-scale welcoming event with at least 4,000 people will be held at Busan Station.
From April 4 to 6, during the inspection team's stay in Busan, they will be presented with three more presentations and conduct on-site visits, meetings, press conferences, luncheons and dinners with key officials. Park Dong-min, head of the secretariat of the Entrepreneurs Committee for the World Expo 2030, points out these activities are crucial to appeal to BIE member countries.
“The presentation is to verify in detail whether the candidate city is suitable for attracting the Expo, so the presentation of the attracting plan is the most important as it checks if Busan is suitable to host the event,” Park said. “The attraction presentation is presented for the BIE inspection team to prove that Korea can conduct the Expo properly, and the team will go through Q&A sessions as well as visiting the venue site and holding meetings with key personnel. The results of the on-site inspection are made into a report and used as basic data for all 171 member countries to make their choice. That is why the presentation is very important now.”
Park Dong-min, head of the secretariat of the Entrepreneurs Committee for the World Expo 2030
Korea has yet to attract a large-scale World Expo, also known as International Registered Expo. The previous Expos held in Daejeon in 1993 and Yeosu in 2012 were Specialized Expos. The World Expo is considered one of the world's top three mega-events standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the World Cup and the Olympics.
For such World Expos, the host country provides the land and the participating countries build national pavilions at their own expense. The economic effect of hosting the Expo in Busan is expected to reach 61 trillion won.
Park says public support is crucial to hosting the Expo as it is one of the key evaluation criteria of the BIE inspection team.
“One of the important evaluation categories during the inspection is 'with the people' showing people's desire to attract the Expo and how much they are interested in the event. So private companies are working hard to attract the interest of the people. Major companies and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry have mobilized everything, and now we are engaging in various publicity activities in hopes of attracting public interest,” Park said.
Cho Yoo-jang, head of Busan Metropolitan City's 2030 Expo Bid Promotion Headquarters, says that Saudi Arabia is the main competitor, having started promotion efforts early and utilizing an abundance of so-called “oil money” funding to appeal to BIE member countries. However, Cho says Korea and Busan are differentiating themselves strongly from the competition.
Cho Yoo-jang, head of Busan Metropolitan City's 2030 Expo Bid Promotion Headquarters
“Compared to Saudi Arabia, our advantage is that citizens are already aware of and support the Expo, which is now being considered a more competitive advantage, after the BIE team found little citizen support when it inspected Saudi Arabia,” Cho said. “So, the most important area is citizens' participation and public support. Also, the Expo will be held in the middle of Busan, so we are superior to other competitors in terms of accessibility and international transportation networks, as other countries plan to establish their Expo venues in the outskirts.”
After the BIE inspection, the country will prepare for its fourth presentation in June in Paris. After the fifth and final presentation in November, the host city for the World Expo 2030 will be decided by a vote at the BIE General Assembly in Paris.
“In the second half of the year, most of the publicity activities have to go into promotional activities overseas to gain more votes. Since BIE representatives are formed around ambassadors or councilors, and they are the ones who vote directly, persuading them will have to be done,” Cho said.