Busan Mayor Park Hyung-jun Meets with Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank

7th Korea-Africa Ministerial Economic Cooperation Meeting at 5:30 PM on the 12th

Discussion on Mutual Exchange and Cooperation Measures, Request for Support to Host Expo 2030 Busan

On the 12th at 5:30 PM, Park Hyung-jun, Mayor of Busan, will meet with Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), at the City Hall International Protocol Room to discuss mutual exchange and cooperation plans with Busan.

President Adesina is visiting Busan in connection with his attendance at the 7th Korea-Africa Ministerial Economic Cooperation Conference (KOAFEC), and will meet with Mayor Park on this day.

President Adesina has a special connection with Busan.

He first visited Busan in 2018 when he attended the AfDB Annual Meeting and the 6th Korea-Africa Ministerial Economic Cooperation Conference (KOAFEC) held in Busan.

At this ministerial meeting, the “Busan-type Drone Utilization System Construction Project,” involving Busan companies, was finally approved as an economic cooperation project. Since then, a pilot project to improve agricultural productivity using drones in Tunisia has been successfully carried out in cooperation with Busan, continuing their relationship.

On this day, Mayor Park will explain to President Adesina the status and strengths of “Busan Finance,” Korea’s financial hub, as well as the appeal of Busan as a candidate city for the 2030 World Expo, and discuss mutual exchange and cooperation plans with African countries.

In particular, based on this, he plans to ask for support and consensus to promote the hosting of the 2030 World Expo in Busan by African countries.

President Adesina is one of the key figures in the African economy and has enormous influence in African countries, having been named Forbes Africa’s Person of the Year in 2013.

Considering that the selection of the host city for the 2030 World Expo in Busan is about three months away, the city will take this meeting period as a golden opportunity to secure African support and will conduct comprehensive promotional activities targeting participants of the 7th Korea-Africa Ministerial Economic Cooperation Conference.

On the 13th, Mayor Park will attend a welcome dinner hosted by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho, where he will request support for the 2030 Busan World Expo bid from President Adesina, AfDB officials, African ministers, and delegations.

On the 14th, Lee Sung-kwon, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs, will host a welcome luncheon organized by Busan City, where he will explain the justification for hosting the 2030 World Expo in Busan to African government delegations and AfDB officials, and ask for support and cooperation to strengthen future economic cooperation, including the Busan-Africa overseas drone cooperation project.

On the 15th, the African government delegations will visit the North Port area to directly introduce the planned site for the 2030 Busan World Expo and showcase Busan’s passionate enthusiasm for the bid.

Mayor Park said, “We sincerely welcome President Adesina’s visit to Busan and hope that the 7th Korea-Africa Ministerial Economic Cooperation Conference (KOAFEC) will be successfully held in Busan.” He added, “We expect this meeting to become a practical foothold for Korea-Africa economic cooperation, and our city will make every effort to use this as a great opportunity to promote the 2030 Busan World Expo bid and secure African support during the conference period.”

Busan City Hall.

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