Inaugural General Meeting of the 2030 Busan World Expo Bid Committee

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] On the 13th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the inaugural general meeting of the '2030 Busan World Expo Hosting Committee' at Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul.

At the general meeting, former Korea International Trade Association Chairman Kim Young-joo was officially appointed as the Hosting Committee Chairman, and 78 key figures from various sectors were appointed as committee members.

The Hosting Committee will establish and execute strategies for hosting the 2030 Busan World Expo, and will conduct hosting activities targeting member countries of 169 international expo organizations by utilizing private overseas networks.

Unlike past events such as the Yeosu Expo or the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, where the chairman of a large corporation led the hosting efforts, the Busan World Expo will be supported through collaboration among the top five business groups, including Hyundai Motor Company. Accordingly, the five major groups?Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor Group (Chairman Chung Euisun), SK Group (Chairman Chey Tae-won), LG (Chairman Koo Kwang-mo), and Lotte Group (Chairman Shin Dong-bin)?will serve as vice chairmen of the Hosting Committee.

At the founding general meeting, the top 10 business groups, Korea International Trade Association, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Korea Electric Power Corporation, and KOTRA participated as founding members of the foundation corporation and approved the articles of incorporation, business plan, and budget.

Hosting Committee Chairman Kim Young-joo expressed, "I feel a great sense of responsibility as I have been entrusted with this difficult and important task," adding, "I will do my best to host the expo by fully utilizing the overseas networks of the top five business groups and the government's diplomatic capabilities."

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, in his congratulatory remarks, highly praised the establishment of a new international event hosting model through the collaboration of the top five business groups and stated that the government hosting support committee will be launched promptly to actively support the expo hosting.

The Hosting Committee plans to complete the establishment of the non-profit foundation corporation within this month and launch the secretariat jointly with relevant ministries and Busan City in August to begin full-scale hosting activities.

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