Daegu Cancels "Medi Expo" and "Quarantine Industry Exhibition"... Online Export Consultation Scheduled for October

The photo was taken on June 24, 2016, at Daegu EXCO during the "MediExpo," showing Daegu Mayor Kwon Youngjin and Cha Sundo, Director of the Daegu Medical Tourism Promotion Agency (Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital), performing a ribbon-cutting ceremony using the Da Vinci Xi robotic surgical system on display.

[The Asia Business Daily Yeongnam Reporting Team, Park Dongwook] On September 10, the Daegu Metropolitan Government announced that, due to concerns over the renewed spread of COVID-19, it has decided to officially cancel both the "2020 Medi Expo Korea" and the "2020 K-Quarantine Industry Exhibition," which had already been postponed once and were scheduled to open on the 25th.

Medi Expo, the largest healthcare industry exhibition outside the Seoul metropolitan area, is co-hosted by EXCO Co., Ltd., the Daegu Medical Tourism Promotion Agency, the National Institute for Korean Medicine Development, and the Daegu Dental Association. This comprehensive event, covering all fields of healthcare including medical devices, hospitals, dentistry, Korean medicine, and pharmaceuticals, was originally scheduled for June, postponed once, and then planned to be held from September 25 to 27.

This year, in particular, organizers had planned to newly launch the K-Quarantine Industry Exhibition, reflecting growing domestic and international interest in infectious disease prevention. They also intended to hold an appreciation event for local healthcare professionals who contributed to COVID-19 response efforts, as well as a K-Quarantine academic forum. However, these plans were thwarted by the resurgence of COVID-19 since the end of August.

Accordingly, the Daegu Metropolitan Government plans to hold a separate export consultation event in October to connect local medical companies, hospital purchasing managers, and overseas buyers. The city will also build an online exhibition hall to facilitate video consultations with international buyers, and will concurrently operate an offline consultation event with daily visitor limits.

Baek Donghyun, Director of Innovation and Growth at Daegu Metropolitan Government, stated, "We have decided to prioritize the health and safety of participating organizations, visitors, and buyers by actively supporting the national policy to prevent the spread of COVID-19." He added, "We will prepare next year's event even more thoroughly so that it can be a valuable opportunity for many citizens to gain a wide range of health-related information."