SK Group's 'Busan Expo TF' Kicks Off... Chairman Cho Dae-sik Competes for Hosting in Fiji

Cho Dae-sik, Chairman of the SK Supex Council (third from the left), is taking a commemorative photo after meeting with Faiyaz Siddiq Koya, Fiji's Minister for Trade (second from the left), at the Trade Minister's office in Suva, the capital of Fiji, on the 12th, to request support for hosting the Busan Expo. During the 'Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Summit,' Chairman Cho stayed in Fiji and participated in the public-private joint special envoy delegation along with Park Hak-gyu, President of Samsung Electronics (far left), and Park Young-gyu, Ambassador to Fiji (far right), to seek support for hosting the Busan Expo. Photo by SK Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jung] SK Group has officially launched efforts to support the bid for the 2030 Busan Expo.

On the 17th, according to SK Group, six executives and employees including Cho Dae-sik, Chairman of the SK Supex Council, and Kim Yoo-seok, Vice President in charge of on-site support for the WE TF, were dispatched to Fiji in the South Pacific, where the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Summit was held, to carry out activities supporting the Expo bid. Currently, SK Group’s top executive, Chairman Cho, is leading the 'WE (World Expo) TF' for the Busan Expo bid.

The WE TF stayed in Fiji from the 8th, three days before the opening of the PIF Summit, until the closing day on the 14th, working intensively alongside the government, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Samsung, Dongwon Industries, and others to support the bid. This reflects the belief that the government and private sector must unite as one team to successfully attract the Busan Expo.

Specifically, on the 10th, the day before the summit’s opening, Kim Yoo-seok of the WE TF met with Cho Seung-hwan, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, Park Hak-gyu, President of Samsung Electronics, as well as Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, Prime Minister of Samoa, and Simon Kofe, Foreign Minister of Tuvalu, to advance the bid. On the 11th, they met with Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji, and Asterio Appi, Special Envoy (Deputy Foreign Minister) of Nauru, continuing their efforts.

Chairman Cho, who arrived in Fiji on the opening day of the summit, also met on the 12th with Minister Cho, President Park, Jeremiah Manele, Foreign Minister of the Solomon Islands, Silk, Minister of Commerce and Natural Resources of the Marshall Islands, and Mark Ati, Foreign Minister of Vanuatu. On the 13th, he met with Surangel Whipps, President of Palau, and Siaosi Sovaleni, Prime Minister of Tonga, appealing for support for the Busan Expo bid.

In particular, Chairman Cho introduced SK Group’s technological capabilities in its four major business sectors?▲Green Sector ▲Bio ▲ICT and AI ▲Semiconductors and semiconductor materials?during meetings with political and business leaders of the Pacific Island countries. He emphasized that the Korean government and private companies like SK can create win-win business models through cooperative relationships with the Pacific Island nations.

Considering the Pacific Island countries’ strong interest in environmental issues such as climate change, Chairman Cho also introduced SK Group’s net-zero transition declaration and proposed visiting these countries in the near future to jointly explore areas of cooperation.

It is known that Chairman Cho is considering cooperation plans through SK Forestry’s overseas projects such as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). SK Forestry has secured carbon emission credits through REDD+ projects in Papua New Guinea and ARR (Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation) projects in Sri Lanka, making practical cooperation with Pacific Island countries feasible.

During the PIF Summit, the joint public-private special envoy team led by Chairman Cho successfully garnered sympathy for the Busan Expo, which focuses on themes like climate change, and some countries reportedly expressed their support for the Expo bid.

An SK official stated, "Chairman Chey Tae-won is co-chairman of the 2030 Busan World Expo Bid Committee, and Chairman Cho leads the WE TF, showing that SK Group is concentrating its capabilities on this Expo bid. We will go all-in to ensure that the government and private companies work as one team to achieve good results."

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