Korean, Japanese business chambers to cooperate for Busan's World Expo bid

Industry

Published: 11 Jun. 2023, 14:35 Updated: 11 Jun. 2023, 17:51

Korean, Japanese business chambers to cooperate for Busan's World Expo bid

Chey Tae-won, second from right in the front row, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, smiles as he appears, wearing a cast after a leg injury, with Ken Kobayashi, third from right, the chairperson of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry for their meeting at a hotel in Busan on Friday. [YONHAP]

Business chambers of Korea and Japan agreed to cooperate on realizing Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo and using the opportunity to strengthen their economic relationship.

The agreement was reached between the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) during their chairs' meeting in Busan, Korea's southern port city, on Friday.

The meeting between the two business chambers was the first gathering in six years as the annual meeting has been halted since 2018 amid deteriorating bilateral relations over a dispute about Japan's occupation of Korea between 1910 and 1945 and the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic.

"The KCCI will actively support the successful World Expo in Osaka and Kansai in 2025 and the JCCI will earnestly cooperate for Busan to host the expo in 2030," the two chambers said in a joint statement.

The decision to hold the next World Expo in Japan was made in November 2018.

KCCI Chairman Chey Tae-won emphasized that the "Busan expo can be described as part of an effort to address global challenges," and he would like to connect it with the upcoming expo in Japan in 2025 "as one solution platform."

KCCI Chairman Chey Tae-won gives opening remarks at the annual meeting held in Busan on Friday. [NEWS1]

Busan is competing with Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh, Ukraine’s Odesa and Italy’s Rome in the bidding race, with the winner to be announced in November.

JCCI Chairperson Ken Kobayashi responded that the economic relationship between Seoul and Tokyo is "inseparable," adding his intention to take the expo as an opportunity.

"I do hope that the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo and the 2030 Busan Expo bid will offer us a chance to revive various exchanges, from the regional exchanges between sister cities, tourism to culture and education, and that mutual understanding will be deepened," Kobayashi said.

The KCCI and JCCI also agreed to promote cooperation in economic security, including solving the depopulation issue, rebuilding supply chains, achieving carbon neutrality, and cooperating on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

They decided to bolster private exchanges in tourism, culture and education in line with post-Covid-19 recovery and border reopening.

Many business leaders from major Korean companies participated in the meeting on Friday including Park Seung-hee, president of Samsung Electronics, Lee Hyung-hee, chairman of the Social Value Committee at SK, Kim Dong-wook, Hyundai Motor executive vice president and Ha Beom-jong, president of LG Corp.

The KCCI and JCCI agreed to host the next chairs' meeting in Osaka in 2024.

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