Implications and Challenges of the 2030 Busan World Expo

The competition to host the 2030 Busan World Expo has begun in earnest. Last September, the government delegation officially submitted Busan’s bid dossier for the 2030 World Expo to the Secretariat of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris, France, setting in motion full-scale bid negotiations and promotional efforts. The host city for the 2030 World Expo is expected to be decided around November 2023 through a vote by 170 member states of the BIE. The countries competing with Korea to host the event are Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), Italy (Rome), and Ukraine (Odesa), and the full-fledged competition among the four countries is expected to begin following the submission of their bid dossiers.

The World Expo is a large-scale international event regarded, along with the World Cup and the Olympics, as one of the world’s three major mega-events. If Korea succeeds in hosting the 2030 World Expo in Busan, it would become the seventh country in the world—and the second in Asia after Japan—to have hosted all three of the world’s top international events, following the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. The expected ripple effects of the 2030 Busan World Expo are projected to include 43 trillion won in production, 18 trillion won in value added, and the creation of 500,000 jobs. All countries that have hosted World Expos in the past have succeeded not only in achieving quantitative development such as economic growth, technological advancement, and infrastructure improvement, but also in generating medium- to long-term economic benefits. The Busan World Expo can likewise be seen as a golden opportunity to elevate Busan into a global logistics hub and a central node in the East Sea Rim and Pacific region connected to China, Russia, and Europe.

Unlike other international events, the host site of the World Expo is determined by a vote of government representatives from BIE member states, so promotional strategies tied directly to the commercial interests of each country exert considerable influence in the bidding process. Since the event is fundamentally based on exhibitions aimed at corporate profit-making, such as product sales, the host country’s commercial capabilities become the most important criterion. In that sense, hosting a World Expo is closely linked to demonstrating the economic stature of the country in question.

The Korean government, private sector, and National Assembly plan to strengthen all-out bid negotiations by forming a nationwide “Korea One Team.” The “2030 Busan World Expo Bidding Committee,” co-chaired by SK Group Chairman Tae-won Chey and Prime Minister Duck-soo Han, has been established, and 14 government ministers, the Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, and the five major conglomerates including Samsung Electronics and SK have decided to join forces in active public-private cooperation to secure the Busan Expo.

Past successful cases of host-country bids, such as Dubai and Milan, show that active efforts and thorough advance preparation by both the government and the private sector are key to winning the bid. SK Group Chairman Tae-won Chey stated his determination to actively support the government at the corporate level by highlighting Korea’s distinctive strengths, including the use of the metaverse, while steadily building trust with BIE member states. Samsung Electronics Chairman Jae-yong Lee has also been actively requesting support for the bid through visits to countries such as the Netherlands and Mexico. In addition, senior executives of companies such as LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group are carrying out active bid campaigns at the private-sector level, along with online and offline promotional efforts using corporate infrastructure. The capabilities of Korean companies are a clear advantage compared with those of other competing countries, and if the private sector and government jointly pursue active bid efforts, this is expected to become a key factor in making the 2030 Busan World Expo a reality.

I. Introduction

1. Overview of the plan to host the 2030 Busan World Expo

2. Busan’s competitiveness as a host location

II. The History and Significance of the Expo

1. Historical background of the Expo

2. Korea’s history with the Expo

3. The national significance of hosting the Expo

III. The Economic Effects of Hosting the Expo

1. Korea’s commercial competitiveness

2. The economic performance of past Expo host countries

3. Long-term prospects after hosting the Expo

IV. Implications and Challenges of Hosting the Busan World Expo

1. Plans and efforts to host the Busan World Expo: practical dimension

2. Plans and efforts to host the Busan World Expo: private-sector dimension

3. Competitiveness in the bid compared with rival countries

4. Future challenges in hosting the Busan World Expo

V. Conclusion

References

Original title: 2030 부산세계박람회의 시사점과 과제

Author: Ji-young Park

Date: 2022-11-04

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=report&pn=2&idx=25058