Incheon City is accelerating preparations to bid for hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, which will be held in South Korea in November next year.
The city announced on the 2nd that it plans to submit its application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this month to become the host city for the APEC Summit. Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the plan for selecting the host city on the 27th of last month and decided to accept applications until the 19th of this month.
The APEC Summit is an annual meeting attended by leaders and ministers from 21 Asia-Pacific countries, with over 6,000 participants, consisting of the leaders' summit, officials' meetings, and business meetings.
The '2025 APEC Summit' is scheduled to be held domestically for the first time in 20 years since it was hosted in Busan in 2005. Currently, Incheon, along with Busan, Jeju, and Gyeongju, is fiercely competing to win the bid.
Unveiling ceremony of the sculpture wishing for the hosting of the '2025 APEC Summit' held at Aeteul Square, Incheon City Hall. 2022.12.1 [Photo by Incheon City]
The APEC Host City Selection Committee, composed of private sector figures and government officials, plans to select the host city in June after conducting document reviews, on-site inspections, and explanatory meetings for the local governments applying to host. The committee will focus on evaluating four key areas: the purpose of hosting the APEC Summit, city conditions suitable for international conferences, operational conditions for the summit, and contributions to national and regional development.
Incheon City is working to create a buzz for the bid by promoting citizen participation events and is preparing a differentiated application by planning unique storytelling exclusive to Incheon. The city plans to respond effectively to on-site inspections and other procedures. The strategy is to emphasize Incheon’s image as a 'well-prepared city' in this bid.
First, Incheon highlights itself as a city aligned with the three main goals of APEC: ▲trade and investment ▲innovation and digital economy ▲inclusive and sustainable growth. Incheon is an investment hub with Korea’s largest free economic zone and is home to world-leading bio-production companies such as Samsung Biologics and Celltrion, as well as the world’s 2nd and 3rd largest semiconductor post-processing companies.
Additionally, Incheon is the leading city in Korea for PAV (Personal Air Vehicle) and the digital economy, implementing the country’s top smart city. It also possesses human and physical infrastructure that APEC can fully utilize, including 15 international organizations and 5 global campuses.
Incheon also emphasizes its rich experience in hosting large-scale international events such as the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, the 2018 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) World Forum, and the 2023 ADB (Asian Development Bank) Annual Meeting. In particular, the ADB Annual Meeting held in May last year was praised for demonstrating Incheon’s capabilities as a venue for international events, gathering Asia’s top economic leaders.
Its excellent accessibility via an international airport, Songdo Convensia certified by UFI for international exhibitions, and top-tier transportation, international conference, and accommodation infrastructure are also considered strengths.
At the "4th Incheon Resident Autonomy Unity Festival" held on June 16, 2023, Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, heads of 10 district and county local governments, and residents performed a promotional event for attracting the "2025 APEC Summit." [Photo by Incheon City]
Incheon City has responded more swiftly than any other city in its efforts to host the APEC Summit. In December 2021, it identified bidding strategies through research projects and established the Incheon bid promotion plan in July 2022 based on these strategies. In September of the same year, Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok became the first local government head to visit the APEC Secretariat in Singapore and expressed Incheon’s intention to host.
In December 2022, a sculpture symbolizing the aspiration to host the APEC Summit was installed at the Aeteul Plaza in Incheon City Hall, and a broad-based citizen bid committee consisting of 110 members from various sectors was launched.
Last year, Incheon conducted multifaceted bid activities including a meeting with ambassadors from the 21 APEC member countries, a familiarization tour, the Global Incheon Forum for APEC bidding, and a special lecture on APEC by world-renowned scholar Professor Vinod Agarwal. On the 11th of this month, starting with a business agreement with Shinhan Bank, Incheon plans to strengthen cooperation with companies and universities such as Celltrion and Yonsei University for the successful hosting of the APEC Summit.
Incheon City expects the 2025 APEC Summit to generate an economic ripple effect of about 1.5 trillion won and create approximately 20,000 jobs. Furthermore, it anticipates that active exchanges among member countries will promote the overseas expansion of Korean companies and serve as a stepping stone to increase foreign investment in Korea.
Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok said, "APEC is the only multilateral regional economic cooperation organization that our country participates in, and APEC member countries are our country’s largest partners in trade and investment, making it very significant." He added, "I am confident that Incheon, a fully prepared international city, will lead Korea’s leap forward through hosting the APEC Summit."
He continued, "Hosting the APEC Summit will be an opportunity to widely promote Incheon. It will bring us closer to the 'world-class city' that Incheon aspires to be and is expected to serve as a catalyst for leaping forward into one of the world’s top 10 cities."
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