[Exclusive] Yoon to Preside Over 'Busan Expo Meeting' Next Month in Busan... Expected to Announce Direct Attraction Strategy

Transition Team Reviews Hosting 'Busan Expo Attraction Strategy Meeting' Led by Yoon
Considered One of the World's Top 3 Festivals Alongside the World Cup and Olympics
Host Country to Be Decided by Vote of 170 Member Countries in November Next Year
Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce, Appointed Chairman of the Private Attraction Committee

On the 4th, Yoon Seok-yeol, the president-elect, visited Gangneung Jungang Market and gave a speech pledging to faithfully fulfill the campaign promises made during the presidential election period. / Gangneung = Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol is expected to preside over a strategic meeting next month in Busan to actively promote the bid for the ‘2030 Busan World Expo,’ which has been selected as a key national agenda for the new government. The Presidential Transition Committee is also considering a plan for President-elect Yoon to directly announce the Busan World Expo bid strategy in Busan. This comes from the judgment that, as some competing countries are actively conducting their bids, the next government must also express its intention to host both domestically and internationally.

According to related ministries on the 6th, the Transition Committee is reviewing the possibility of holding a 2030 Busan World Expo bid strategy meeting chaired by the President in Busan next month. Since the Busan World Expo has been adopted as a national agenda for the next government, President-elect Yoon plans to directly announce the support strategy for the bid and then intensify the bidding campaign. When the bid strategy meeting is held, President Yoon and Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chairperson of the Busan World Expo Private Bid Committee, will attend. A Transition Committee official said, “There has been a lack of government support for the Busan World Expo bid,” adding, “(The bid strategy meeting) is to actively express the new government’s intention to host both domestically and internationally.”

Economic Effect Estimated at 61 Trillion KRW

The World Expo is an event officially recognized by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and is considered one of the world’s three major international events alongside the World Cup and the Olympics. The economic and employment creation effects of hosting the World Expo are estimated at 61 trillion KRW and 500,000 jobs, respectively. The countries applying to host the 2030 World Expo are Busan, South Korea; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Rome, Italy; Moscow, Russia; and Odesa, Ukraine.

The Transition Committee believes that the next government must accelerate the Busan World Expo bid campaign upon its inauguration. This is because the host country for the 2030 World Expo will be decided by the end of next year. The BIE will select the host country through a vote by its 170 member countries in November next year. This means there is about one year and six months left to campaign for the support of the 165 member countries excluding the competing countries. Considering that the World Expo bid is a national competition involving even the President, this is not considered ample time.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is taking a commemorative photo with attendees at the 2030 Busan World Expo bid support rally held on the 22nd of last month at the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jin-gu, Busan. From the left, Park Hyung-joon, Mayor of Busan; Kim Young-joo, Bid Committee Chairman; President-elect Yoon; Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Jang In-hwa, Chairman of the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Photo by the Transition Team Press Corps

Duopoly with Saudi Arabia

One of the reasons the Transition Committee wants to intensify the bid campaign immediately after President-elect Yoon’s inauguration is Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is considered the only serious competitor among the four countries competing with South Korea for the 2030 World Expo. The bidding campaigns of Russia (Moscow) and Ukraine (Odesa) have stalled due to the Ukraine crisis, and Italy (Rome) recently hosted the World Expo in Milan in 2015. Accordingly, Saudi Arabia, whose king has expressed a strong intention to host, is reportedly planning an all-out campaign fueled by oil money.

The Transition Committee is also concretizing its bid strategy ahead of the new government’s launch. First, the committee plans to focus its bid campaign on key negotiating countries. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the competent ministry, previously identified 39 key negotiating countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brazil, based on the support tendencies of BIE member countries.

The business community is also lending support to the Busan World Expo bid. Earlier, on the 4th, the Transition Committee announced the establishment of the ‘Private Committee for Supporting the Busan World Expo Bid,’ led by Chairman Choi. The top 10 conglomerates have agreed to support the activities of the government’s ‘2030 Busan World Expo Government Bid Committee.’

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