Distribution Giant Launches All-Out Effort to Support 2030 Busan Expo Bid

EPL Stadium '2030 Busan Expo Bid' Advertisement
Large Banners at Domestic and Overseas Affiliate Sites Urging Support

‘Distribution giants’ have stepped up their support for Busan’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo, organized by the International Bureau of Expositions (BIE), ahead of the vote scheduled for this month.

Lotte participated in the 'Korea-Vietnam Partnership Expo' in June, introducing its history of entering the Vietnamese market and promoting Busan, the candidate city for hosting the expo, together with Bellygom.
[Photo by Lotte]

According to the distribution industry on the 7th, Lotte, regarded as the ‘eldest brother’ of the industry, has been running advertisements since the 4th at English Premier League (EPL) stadiums wishing for the successful bid of the ‘2030 Busan Expo.’ The Premier League is the football league with the largest number of fans worldwide, with an average attendance of about 40,000 per game. The matches are broadcast to approximately 600 million households in 212 countries worldwide, so the advertising effect is expected to be significant. The advertisement will continue until the 27th.

Additionally, Lotte will display messages supporting the Busan Expo bid on the media facade of Lotte World Tower’s exterior until the 28th of this month. Lotte Corporation, which operates and manages Lotte World Tower, broadcasts messages such as ‘BUSAN IS READY,’ ‘HIP KOREA,’ and ‘2030 BUSAN EXPO’ every hour on the hour for 10 minutes after sunset.

Earlier, Lotte formed an ‘Expo Bid Support Task Force’ at the group level to actively support the bid. During the BIE on-site inspection in April, they provided ‘Signiel Busan’ as accommodation for the inspection team and participated in the ‘Light it up EXPO’ event held in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, timed with the inspection team’s visit to Korea.

Lotte has also promoted the Busan Expo bid at overseas events and expos. At the ‘Korea Brand Expo’ held in Jakarta, Indonesia, last September, they supported small and medium-sized enterprises’ overseas market expansion while setting up a photo wall cheering for the Busan Expo. Earlier, in June, at the ‘Korea-Vietnam Partnership Expo’ held at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, they promoted Busan with ‘Belligom’ wearing a Busan Expo sash.

At the Consumer Goods Forum CGF held in Kyoto, Japan last June, Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte, met with Ramon Laguarta, CEO of PepsiCo, to request support for the bid to host Expo 2030 Busan.
[Photo by Lotte]

Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin himself has been actively involved in the Expo bid efforts. In September, during his visit to Vietnam to celebrate the opening of Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi, Chairman Shin met with high-ranking political and business officials to request their support for the Busan Expo bid. In June, at the ‘Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Global Summit’ held in Kyoto, Japan, Chairman Shin spoke as a keynote speaker, introducing Busan’s capabilities to host the Expo to executives from over 20 global consumer goods companies.

Shinsegae Group has also mobilized its affiliates to support the bid. They installed banners wishing for the Busan Expo bid at major business sites located in Busan and conducted a signature campaign through Starbucks to support the bid. Online, SSG.com and Gmarket operated event pages cheering for the Busan Expo bid and held comment events, participating in the promotion.

The host city for the 2030 Expo will be decided by a vote of 179 member countries at the BIE General Assembly held in Paris, France, on the 28th (local time). South Korea’s biggest rival is Saudi Arabia, which is aiming to host the Expo in its capital, Riyadh. Although Saudi Arabia is currently considered to be slightly ahead, South Korea is placing hope on a last-minute turnaround and the public and private sectors are making an all-out effort to secure the bid.

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