KCCI collects money from top 10 conglomerates for Expo bid

The facade of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building (KCCI) / Korea Times file

By Kim Hyun-bin

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has been collecting money from Korea's top 10 businesses groups, including Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG, to finance a range of activities to help Busan win a bid to host World Expo 2030, according to the country's top business lobby group Wednesday.

“We decided to raise 31.1 billion won ($23.4 million) needed for activities through the voluntary participation of companies of the Entrepreneurs Committee for the World EXPO 2030 Busan,” KCCI Vice Chairman Woo Tae-hee said. “The money is being collected in the form of a special membership fee for the KCCI.”

Among the total fund, Samsung and SK are putting up 7.05 billion won ($5.32 million) each, while Hyundai Motor Group, LG and Lotte will allocate 4.7 billion won, 3.05 billion won, and 2.2 billion won, respectively.

The KCCI explained that the special membership fee will be used for official event expenses at home and abroad such as metaverse and platform establishment costs, consulting, and publicity fees.

KCCI Chairman Chey Tae-won

The lobby group launched a private bidding committee on behalf of the private sector in May, and is working to help the southern port city win its World Expo bid. Chey Tae-won, chairman of the KCCI, serves as the head of the private bid committee.

However, there are also concerns that the KCCI is urging each company to take part in the fund. In the past, when hosting the Yeosu Expo, the private sector donated a total of 14.2 billion won to the government to help win the bid.

Woo, the KCCI vice chairman, said, "It was carried out by listening to the autonomous opinions of each company at the private bid committee level without any external request or pressure. After the attraction activities are over, we will have an external audit on the use of the special fund.”

Apart from the fund, Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG and Lotte Group are mobilizing all their global capabilities, and company executives are meeting with key figures from around the world asking for support for the Expo bid.

“It is meaningful in many ways for companies to actively participate in the Busan Expo bid,” said Park Dong-min, senior vice president of the Entrepreneurs Committee for the World EXPO 2030 Busan, Korea at the KCCI. “The companies can also seek to discover new business opportunities by meeting with heads of state.”

When contacted by The Korea Times, LG, Lotte and SK officials said they did not have an official statement on the issue.