Daegu City to Host the World's Largest Energy-Related Event

‘World Gas Congress’ Successfully Held, 100% In-Person Event with Safety and Quarantine as Top Priorities

Major Global Companies Participate in Large Numbers Due to Quarantine Exemption for Overseas Participants

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] The World Gas Congress Organizing Committee, attended by Jeong Haeyong, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs of Daegu City, Park Bonggyu, Chairman of the World Gas Congress Organizing Committee, and 43 organizing committee members, discussed the event format and decided to hold the World Gas Congress in Daegu this May as a 100% face-to-face event. This decision appears to have been influenced by the social distancing easing policy announced by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 18th and the global trend of relaxing quarantine regulations.

At the World Gas Congress Organizing Committee meeting held at COEX on February 23, the main agenda was the format of the World Gas Congress. Although it was decided last November to proceed with a 100% face-to-face event, the global spread of Omicron raised the need for reconsideration.

Considering Omicron’s characteristics of high transmissibility but relatively low severity, countries worldwide are easing quarantine and entry restrictions. Even the United States, which once had 1.3 million daily confirmed cases due to Omicron, is gradually relaxing quarantine regulations at the state government level in Washington DC, New York, California, and others. Unlike many countries in Europe, America, and the Afro-Asia region (North Africa-West Asia) that already have free tourism exchanges, Asian countries such as Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia, which had been conservative about easing entry restrictions, have announced policies to relax entry regulations, thus opening the gates for international tourism exchanges.

The organizing committee cautiously expects that quarantine measures for overseas entrants during the event period in May will be completely lifted. Even if not, they plan to ensure that overseas entrants participating in the congress will be exempted from quarantine through a special exemption procedure to avoid any issues upon entry.

Jeong Haeyong, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs of Daegu City, expressed, “I am pleased that the World Gas Congress, the first to be held in Daegu domestically, has been decided to proceed as a 100% face-to-face event. As the world’s largest energy-related event held after the outbreak of COVID-19 is taking place in our Daegu, we will prioritize safety and quarantine to successfully host the event.”

Meanwhile, the organizing committee announced that it will extend the early registration deadline to March 31 to offer more discount benefits to participants who hesitated to register due to COVID-19. Full refunds are available if cancellation occurs within the early registration period.