Doha, 07 July 2022 (QT)

By Ashraf Siddiqui

As a well-developed and well experienced city, Busan is well placed to host World Expo 2030 and the Republic of Korea is keen and anxious to organise the event there, the country’s ambassador to Qatar Lee Joon-Ho, has said.

The more than 1,500 year-old port city of Busan is the second largest city of South Korea, the 5th largest MICE city in Asia, and the 13th largest on the world level, the envoy pointed out. Moreover, according to UIA 2019 statistics, the municipality of Busan has a rich experience of hosting as many as 239 international conferences and has outstanding talent and exhibition infrastructure, he added.

In an exclusive interview with Qatar Tribune, the envoy said that Republic of Korea’s President Yoon Seok-Youl, central government headed by Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo, the people of Busan, the local government, executive, the national legislature, as well as the business community will all engage as a team in the wholehearted efforts to achieve the aim.

He expressed hope that all BIE member states will vote in favour of Republic of Korea’s candidacy in view of its great profile and achievements. Talking about the significance of Busan as host city as presented to BIE, a platform of 170 member-states, the envoy said the city is a major cultural hub of the region. “It is a city of festivals, arts and films, which has continued to successfully host a variety of events such as the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), the Busan Fireworks Festival, the One Asia Festival, a global K-pop music festival, and the Busan Biennale, a biannual contemporary art exhibition,” he said.

“Busan’s environment is remarkable for its harmonious relationship among its natural elements like mountains, rivers and sea. The city is blessed with a number of hot springs scattered throughout its geography. “Moreover, it has been Korea’s main point of interaction with the outside world for more than 1,500 years for trade and cultural exchanges.

”The city also laid the foundation of Korea’s economic progress and development as well as the growth of its companies after the Korean War. Its coastline features superb beaches, scenic cliffs and mountains, offering excellent hiking trails and extraordinary viewing spots. Busan enjoys four distinct seasons and a temperate climate that never gets too hot or too cold.

He said that the city’s natural endowments and rich history have resulted in Busan’s increasing reputation as a world class city for tourism and culture. As such, it is becoming renowned as a hot spot destination for international conventions.

The Republic of Korea submitted its letter of candidature for World Expo 2030 to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in June last year. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Italy have also their candidature dossiers so far. Interested countries have time to submit their intention until 7 September, 2022.

BIE will then organise Enquiry Missions to assess the feasibility and viability of the projects submitted by the candidate countries. The host country will be elected on the principle of one-country-one-vote by the 170 BIE member states.

Korean envoy Lee said that Busan as host city to the 2030 mega world event will provide an opportunity to all participants to recognise global challenges and give thought to the environment and new ways of life for humankind. He said that the port city of Busan, which was at the center of the Korean transformation, will set a new course toward a better tomorrow for the earth and humanity.

Lee said that Busan being gateway city in Northeast Asia is accessible via airport, railway, roads and ports. The city has unparalleled experience of hosting the 2002 Asian Games, 2005 APEC Summit, 2014 and 2019 Korea-ASEAN Special Summit, 2015 IDB Annual Meeting among many other large scale international events. The world’s largest meeting place aims to educate the public, promote progress and foster cooperation.

The World Expo is one of the largest international festivals besides the World Cup and the Olympics. Hosting an expo is estimated to create economic effects worth 61 trillion won (US$47.1 billion), according to a study reported by Korean official news agency Yanhop.

Talking about Qatar-South Korean bilateral relations, Ambassador Lee said that since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations on April 18, 1974, the two countries have developed a relationship centred on cooperation in energy and construction. “Qatar is our largest and trusted natural gas supplier and has been supplying natural gas to Korea uninterruptedly for the past 20 years. However, there are various other avenues, where both Qatar and Republic of Korea can cooperate and enhance their relations to much higher levels,” the envoy stressed.

He said that in June 2020, a contract was signed between the three biggest shipbuilding companies in Korea and Qatar, which led to the largest LNG ship construction ever.

Lee said that Qatar is also one of our eight major overseas construction markets, and you can see architectural masterpieces by Korean companies in Qatar including the fascinating Qatar National Museum and the Lusail Plaza Tower, which will be the landmark of the 2022 World Cup.

Lee said that bilateral trade during first quarter of 2022 was recorded over US$ 6.5 billion in which around US$ 172 m worth of exports were from South Korea including marine offshore structures and parts, cars, steel plates, construction machinery and synthetic resin.

Among the exports from Qatar to South Korea were natural gas, crude oil, petrochemical products, nitrogen fertilizer, aluminum and chemical raw materials.

He expressed his deep appreciation of Qatar’s role and various activities on the international stage. It has served as a mediator to promote regional peace, mediating in negotiations between the U.S. and Taliban, mediating in conflicts and crisis in Sudan and Yemen, and most recently, in contacts between Iran and US with the mediation of European Union.