Hyundai Motor CEO to visit Latin American countries to promote 2030 World Expo bid

Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon is visiting three Latin American countries — the Bahamas, Chile and Paraguay — to promote Busan’s bid for the 2030 World Expo.

Chang is scheduled to have six days of meetings with high-level government officials to ask for their support for Busan, starting Thursday.

Latin America is important in the bid as it consists of 29 countries that have voting rights, third after Europe and Africa.

“Various Korean cultural characteristics like Korean pop music and food are gaining much popularity in Latin American countries,” Hyundai said, which will be a positive factor in extending its promotional activities.

Korea’s bidding committee matched large companies with countries with voting rights, and Hyundai was matched with 20 countries including Peru, Chile and the Bahamas. Hyundai formed a task force specializing in promotion last year, led by Kim Dong-wook, executive vice president at Hyundai Motor.

Hyundai in July invited 23 government officials and ambassadors from some 10 Latin American countries to its Hyundai Motor Studio in Busan to explain the competitiveness of Busan and ask them for their support in the city's bid to host the World Expo.

In Paris in June, where meetings of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) are held, Hyundai’s Tucson SUVs with the expo logo toured the city for two days starting on June 20.

Hyundai has also been promoting Busan using promotional pamphlets and videos at Hyundai and Kia stores overseas.

The host of the 2030 World Expo will be selected by the 170 members of the BIE in November 2023. Korea is competing against Saudi Arabia's Riyadh and Italy's Rome.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]