Lee Jae-myung: "The Construction of KINTEX Exhibition Hall 3 Will Mark a New Turning Point for Balanced Development and Inter-Korean Exchange"

[Asia Economy (Goyang) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, highly praised the government's announcement confirming the construction of the third exhibition hall at KINTEX in Goyang, saying it has created a new turning point for balanced development between the northern and southern parts of the Gyeonggi region and for inter-Korean exchange and cooperation.

Governor Lee made these remarks on the 15th after signing a joint business agreement with Goyang City and KOTRA at the KINTEX Grand Ballroom.

At the event, Governor Lee said, "Goyang is very close to Seoul and is the region that will benefit the most from improvements in inter-Korean relations," emphasizing, "We must ensure that northern Gyeonggi, centered on Goyang, can overcome its past neglect and hardships to have hope and vision."

He continued, "Now is the time to consider how to make the most of this hard-won opportunity," promising, "Since the construction of the third exhibition hall at KINTEX is an essential project for balanced development in Gyeonggi Province and preparing for an era of inter-Korean exchange and cooperation, Gyeonggi Province, Goyang City, and KOTRA will join forces to ensure the project proceeds smoothly and will do our best."

KINTEX is a comprehensive exhibition center established by the government under the 'Metropolitan Area Comprehensive Exhibition Center Construction Plan' to develop South Korea as a trade hub in Asia. Currently, the combined first and second exhibition halls offer a total exhibition space of 108,000㎡.

However, over the past three years, five large exhibition centers exceeding 200,000㎡ have been built in countries such as China and India, causing many global exhibitions to be lost to China and others, resulting in a significant decline in international competitiveness and raising urgent calls for the construction of a third exhibition hall.

The third exhibition hall will be built adjacent to the first and second halls, with an exhibition area of 70,090㎡ and a total floor area of 319,730㎡. The total project cost is 489.1 billion KRW, including 143.7 billion KRW from the national government and 145.3 billion KRW from the provincial government. The opening is targeted for 2024, with detailed design and construction starting next year.

According to the agreement among Gyeonggi Province, Goyang City, and KOTRA, a construction promotion team and a working-level consultative body will be formed to establish an organic cooperation system to ensure the smooth progress of the third exhibition hall construction, along with administrative and financial support.

The province expects that once the third exhibition hall is completed, it will be possible to attract world-class large-scale exhibitions, making northern Gyeonggi a center for high value-added industries and South Korea a global exhibition and convention hub.

A provincial official stated, "Once the third exhibition hall opens, it is expected to generate an economic ripple effect of 6.4 trillion KRW annually and create about 30,000 jobs."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.