South Korea Officially Announces "2030 Busan Expo Bid"... Russia Also Announces

Ministry of Industry: "Competition to Attract Investment Officially Begins"

Participants, including Yoo Myung-hee, Director-General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (tenth from the left), pose for a commemorative photo at the 'Busan World Expo Master Plan Establishment Service Kick-off Meeting' held on the afternoon of June 15 at the BEXCO conference room in Busan. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] On the 1st, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that at the 167th General Assembly of the International Bureau of Expositions (BIE), it officially expressed its intention to host the 2030 Busan World Expo and will begin full-scale preparations for the bid.

Jo Young-shin, Deputy Head of the Ministry’s 2030 Busan World Expo Bid Planning Team, presented the attractiveness of Busan and the vision for the Busan World Expo on behalf of the government.

Deputy Head Jo expressed the government’s full support for the successful hosting of the World Expo and actively requested the support of BIE member countries.

An official from the Ministry said, "This announcement served as an opportunity to declare our intention to bid and increase recognition among BIE member countries."

The Bid Planning Team will do its best to ensure Busan is selected as the host city for the 2030 World Expo through multifaceted and comprehensive external promotional activities and diplomatic negotiations. It will closely cooperate with Busan City, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and others.

In the first half of next year, a joint public-private bid committee will be launched to operate a nationwide full-scale bid system, and the bid application will be submitted to the BIE. Currently, efforts are being accelerated to establish the master plan.

The host city will be decided by a vote of member countries at the BIE General Assembly in December 2023 after an on-site inspection process in the first half of 2023. A city that obtains attendance of at least two-thirds of the member countries and a majority vote of two-thirds or more will be selected as the host.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Russia officially announced its intention to host the Expo in Moscow. An official from the Ministry said, "The Bid Planning Team plans to continuously monitor the trends of expected competitors such as Russia and establish systematic counter-strategies."

The Ministry judged that through the World Expo, Korea will be able to showcase itself as a strong soft power nation not only in science and technology, information and communication technology (ICT), innovation, and industry but also in K-quarantine and Hallyu, and seize an opportunity to secure a new growth axis through the re-advancement of the Southeast region.

If the World Expo is held in Busan in 2030, Korea will become the seventh country in the world, following France, the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, and Italy, to have hosted all three major international events (World Expo, Olympics, World Cup).

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