Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung meets Czech Prime Minister

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, left, shakes hands with Petr Fiala, prime minister of the Czech Republic, on Oct. 27 after their meeting held in Prague. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung met with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala to ask for his support for Busan’s bid to host the World Expo 2030.

The two also discussed cooperation to shift Hyundai’s Czech plant to a facility manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs) during the meeting, which was held in the minister's office in Prague on Oct. 27.

The Czech Republic holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Since it established diplomatic ties with Korea in 1990, over 50 Korean companies have entered the country including Hyundai Motor.

"Busan is the best suitable city to hold a World Expo as it plays as a logistics hub connecting Eurasia and the Pacific Ocean, as well as a hub for world-class infrastructure for tourism," Chung told Fiala.

Chung also emphasized the important role Hyundai's Czech plant has in the company's electrification goal in the European market. The European Union reached a deal to effectively ban new combustion-engine cars starting from 2035.

Hyundai Motor manufactures various EVs in its Czech plant in Ostrava, including Kona Electric SUVs and Tucson Hybrid SUVs. Sales of Hyundai EVs that were manufactured in the Ostrava plant increased 38.1 percent on year this year as of end of September.

Hyundai Motor and Kia sold a total of 821,531 vehicles in European countries this year as of September, up 6.6 percent. They are the third largest automaker after Volkswagen Group and Stellantis.

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.

The host of World Expo 2030 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]