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Discussion on Cooperation Measures Including Exhibition Activation at CES 2025 Venue

Yoon Jin-sik, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), announced on the 9th (local time) that he met with Gary Shapiro, Chairman of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the organizer of CES, the world's largest home appliance and IT exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA, to discuss ways to revitalize the exhibition industry and cooperate with startups.

Attending the meeting along with Chairman Yoon Jin-sik were Choi Myung-bae, Chairman of Exicon, and Lee Dong-gi, CEO of COEX, who visited the United States as part of the CES 2025 delegation.

During the meeting, Chairman Yoon said, "Congratulations on the 100th anniversary of CTA's founding and the successful hosting of CES. The Korea International Trade Association has COEX, Korea's leading exhibition organizer and venue operator, as its subsidiary, and through the newly established 'MICE Planning Office' created in this year's organizational restructuring, we plan to actively pursue various efforts to foster exhibitions and revitalize the industry in the future."

He continued, "Since 2018, the Trade Association has been conducting various activities to support the scale-up and overseas expansion of startups, including the domestic largest startup exhibition 'NextRise' and testbed projects in the US and Europe. As CTA is also an exhibition organizer and operates the Eureka Park to nurture startups, if we cooperate, we can create a synergy effect that expands the startup ecosystems of both countries and revitalizes exhibitions," he emphasized.

Considering the high interest of Asian companies in CES, the two organizations also discussed holding a CES pre-event (CES Unveiled) at COEX in the future or reviving CES Asia, which is currently suspended, in Seoul. CES Asia was held in Shanghai, China in 2015 but was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and US-China trade conflicts.

Gary Shapiro, Chairman of CTA, stated, "We want to continue discussing mutual exhibition cooperation plans that utilize Korea's industrial competitiveness in semiconductors, batteries, and other areas, including personnel exchanges of exhibition experts."