Daejeon Leads Launch of World Economic and Science Cities Alliance... Five Overseas Cities Join as Founding Members

Inaugural Ceremony and Forum at DCC on 3rd-4th: Charter Establishment and Leaders' Meeting to Seek Joint Growth

Daejeon City will establish the World Economic Science City Alliance on the 3rd. Photo by Park Jongmyung

Daejeon City will hold the inaugural ceremony of the World Economic Science Cities Alliance, which is being newly established after the dissolution of the World Technopolis Association (WTA), on the 3rd in Daejeon.

Daejeon City announced that the inaugural ceremony and forum of the World Economic Science Cities Alliance will be held at the Daejeon Convention Center from the 3rd to the 4th.

The event, led by Daejeon City, will see five overseas cities?Montgomery County (USA), Dortmund (Germany), Malaga (Spain), and Seattle (USA)?participate as founding members. In addition, Hsinchu (Taiwan) and Quebec (Canada) will attend as specially invited cities.

On the first day, the 3rd, the inauguration declaration ceremony and the World Innovation Cities Forum will take place. This will be followed by keynote speeches and presentations by Lee Kwanghyung, President of KAIST, and Mikel Landabaso Alvarez, Deputy Director of the Joint Research Centre of the European Union, respectively, as well as discussions on the role of the alliance.

On the 4th, an unofficial meeting of city representatives will be held, where the founding city representatives will discuss the organization and operational plans of the alliance.

The meeting is expected to reach an agreement on the global intercity cooperation platform proposed by Daejeon City and explore practical ways to achieve tangible results as an official international organization.

The World Economic Science Cities Alliance will hold a presidential election and forum every two years.

Lee Jangwoo, Mayor of Daejeon, stated, "The founding of the alliance is a valuable opportunity that will greatly contribute to the innovative growth of the city," and added, "Through solidarity and economic and scientific exchanges among member cities, we will contribute to the international community and share a vision for mutual growth."

Meanwhile, the World Technopolis Association (WTA), established in 1998 and led by Daejeon City, was dissolved in 2022 following criticism that its focus on expanding member cities limited its effectiveness.