Busan City, district and county offices, and related organizations are joining forces to fully prepare for the upcoming on-site inspection by the International Bureau of Expositions (BIE).
On the 28th, starting at 9 a.m., Busan City will hold two consecutive meetings at the 5th-floor conference room of the Busan Port International Exhibition & Convention Center, chaired by Mayor Park Hyung-jun: ▲ a Fireworks Safety Management Committee meeting attended by key officials of Busan City ▲ and a briefing session on the preparation status for the BIE on-site inspection attended by district heads and related organizations.
The inspection team completed the on-site inspection in Saudi Arabia, the strongest competitor, from March 6 to 10, and will visit Busan, South Korea, from April 4 to 7 to conduct the on-site inspection.
The city considers this on-site inspection a critical turning point for the bid to host the 2030 World Expo and has devoted great effort to preparations. The briefing session, held one week before the inspection, aims to finalize and discuss the preparation status of each organization, focusing on ensuring a safe event and conveying Busan’s strong desire to host the Expo to the inspection team with the participation of citizens.
First, at 9 a.m., Mayor Park Hyung-jun will chair the Safety Management Committee meeting, attended by about 30 participants including heads of local disaster safety agencies and private experts, to review the safety management plan for the ‘2030 Busan World Expo Bid Fireworks Show.’
This fireworks show is expected to attract over one million people in warm spring weather, unlike previous fireworks festivals.
Accordingly, the city will hold the Safety Management Committee meeting face-to-face for the first time in five years to demonstrate to the inspection team the citizens’ hopes for the Expo bid and the city’s world-class, flawless urban safety capabilities by directly reviewing the festival’s safety management plan.
Mayor Park Hyung-jun plans to request active cooperation from related agencies to ensure the successful and accident-free hosting of this fireworks show, following last year’s BTS concert and the 17th Fireworks Festival.
Next, the briefing session on the preparation status for the on-site inspection will proceed with ▲ a comprehensive briefing on the progress of the inspection, ▲ reports on preparations by sector including the welcoming event for the inspection team, public atmosphere-raising events, urban environment maintenance, and publicity, and ▲ an open discussion.
The city has designated the inspection period as ‘EXPO WEEK’ to captivate the inspection team with the passion of Busan citizens from the moment they arrive. Together with district and county offices, it is planning and preparing various citizen-participation festivals and atmosphere-raising events such as the ‘Welcome Citizen Music Concert for the Inspection Team,’ ‘2030 EXPO Busan Proposal in Haeundae,’ ‘Gwangalli Jindueohwa,’ and ‘Drone Light Show.’
The strategy is to transform all areas of Busan into a festival ground to impress the inspection team.
Additionally, since February, the city has formed a special task force (T/F) led by the Deputy Mayor to conduct on-site inspections for urban environment maintenance. They have carried out frequent checks along the inspection team’s movement routes in seven areas, including road maintenance, traffic facilities, public signage and illegal advertisements, street landscaping, urban beautification, and English signage, completing about 100,000 maintenance tasks over the past month.
Moreover, while ensuring the events during the on-site inspection are well-prepared, the city recognizes the importance of conveying the enthusiasm for the bid to the inspection team through the media and various channels. It plans to focus on intensive promotion through diverse publicity channels.
Immediately after the meetings, Mayor Park will personally conduct on-site inspections of major facilities and routes visited by the inspection team, starting from Busan Station, the venue for the welcoming event, and including key sites in cooperation with the Busan Police Agency.
Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, “Through the successful hosting of the BTS concert last October, we demonstrated Busan’s capabilities to the world and have been doing our best to showcase that Busan is a prepared city that has hosted many large international events.” He added, “This inspection is the greatest opportunity to show that Busan is a vibrant and dynamic city, leaving a strong impression and moving the inspection team. I ask all citizens to take great interest and participate actively to spread the enthusiasm for the bid.”
He continued, “I urge not only the city but also district and county offices and related organizations to spare no effort until the inspection is completed, ensuring that Busan’s enthusiasm for the bid is sincerely conveyed to the inspection team without a single error.”
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