KCCI Requests Support for Busan Expo Bid in Eastern Europe

Dispatch of Economic Delegation to Romania and Bulgaria

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced that from the 7th to the 9th, it will dispatch an economic delegation to the Eastern European countries Romania and Bulgaria to discuss economic cooperation and request support for the bid to host the 2030 Busan World Expo.

Woo Tae-hee, Vice Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is delivering a congratulatory speech at the 2nd Korea-US Industrial Cooperation Conference titled "Ways to Enhance Korea-US Carbon Neutrality Cooperation," held on the 13th at the Hyatt Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The delegation is led by Woo Tae-hee, Senior Vice Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Senior Executive Committee Member of the 2030 Busan World Expo Bid Support Private Committee), and consists of Lee Young-hwal, Senior Vice Chairman of the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lee Jae-kyung, Senior Vice Chairman of the Daegu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Son Jae-il, Chairman of the Korea-Romania Private Economic Cooperation Committee (CEO of Hanwha Aerospace), Lee Hyun-soo, Vice President of LIG Nex1, and Ahn Kyung-soo, Executive Director of Hyundai Rotem.

On the 7th, at the Romania Chamber of Commerce and Industry building, the 'Korea-Romania Business Council,' jointly hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Romania Chamber of Commerce and Industry, discussed various measures to elevate private sector cooperation between the two countries to the next level.

Chairman Son Jae-il said, "This meeting was promised to strengthen mutual economic cooperation between the two prime ministers and is expected to serve as an opportunity to solidify the private economic network," adding, "The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Romania Chamber of Commerce and Industry will regularly create practical business cooperation opportunities like today."

Mihai Daraban, Chairman of the Romania Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also responded, "It is encouraging that business cooperation between Korea and Romania, centered on the defense industry, is becoming very close recently," and said, "Romania is a country with one of the best IT infrastructures and competitive labor forces in Europe, and I hope this will be an opportunity for Korean companies' investments to expand significantly."

Furthermore, on the 8th, the delegation will meet with Marcel Ciolacu, Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, and Florin Spataru, Romanian Minister of Economy, to engage in negotiations supporting the Busan Expo bid.

On the 9th, in Sofia, Bulgaria, they plan to meet with Nikola Stoyanov, Minister of Economy, to build consensus on the purpose and vision of the Busan Expo. They will also have a meeting with Tsvetan Simenov, Chairman of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Vice Chairman Woo Tae-hee said, "The Eastern European economic delegation will be a momentum to further strengthen the economic partnership between the two countries," adding, "Since both the Romanian and Bulgarian governments are actively seeking growth through cooperation with Korean companies, we will leverage this to accelerate support for the Busan Expo bid."