Mayor Park Hyung-jun's European Tour, Bid for Expo 2030 Busan

Davos Forum 'Korea Night' and Early Childhood Negotiation Activities

2 Nights 4 Days (17-20) Tour of 2 European Countries

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Dong-guk] Busan City announced that Mayor Park Hyung-joon will embark on a 4-day, 2-night tour of two European countries, France (Paris) and Switzerland (Davos), from January 17 to 20, 2023, in connection with attending the 2023 Davos Forum (2023 World Economic Forum) 'Korea Night' event.

'Korea Night' is an event organized to promote the 2030 Busan World Expo by inviting influential figures from around the world attending the Davos Forum.

The event will be attended by key political and business figures such as President Yoon Seok-yeol and Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Mayor Park plans to join them as one team to showcase the charm of Busan, the candidate city, to global opinion leaders attending the event and to garner support for hosting the 2030 World Expo in Busan.

Considering that this is the 'golden time' for bid negotiations ahead of the onsite inspection by the International Bureau of Expositions (BIE) scheduled for April, Mayor Park will also take time during his stopover in Paris, France, to conduct bid negotiations and promotional activities.

On January 17 and 18, Mayor Park will meet with representatives of the BIE from the African region, who are based in France, to request support for the 2030 Busan World Expo bid and discuss mutual cooperation plans.

In particular, since the bid strategy was prepared through several joint meetings with related ministries from the end of last year, it is expected that dense and meaningful discussions will take place during these meetings.

The African region is considered a strategic negotiation area as it has the second-largest number of BIE member countries (46 countries) after Europe.

Mayor Park’s 'niche' visit for bid negotiations is expected to serve as an opportunity to convey Busan’s meticulous preparation status and strong determination to win the bid to the African BIE representatives.

After completing the schedule in France, Mayor Park will move to Davos, Switzerland, on January 18 to attend the 'Korea Night' event hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, attend President Yoon Seok-yeol’s special speech on the 19th, and return home on the 20th.

Mayor Park Hyung-joon of Busan said, “Since starting active overseas negotiation activities with a Central America tour including El Salvador in September last year, we will continue negotiation activities in 2023 to achieve tangible results,” adding, “We will secure full support from BIE member countries through a perfect onsite inspection response in April.”