Korea making final spurt in Paris with 50 days until final vote for World Expo 2030

The Republic of Korea's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is heading the visit to four European countries from October 8-15 for a series of promotion of the World Expo 2030 Busan, starting with Paris, France, with approximately 50 days remaining until the final vote for selecting the World Expo 2030 candidate winner.

In Paris, Prime Minister Han is directing the official symposium for World Expo 2030 Busan through October 9-10, attended by approximately 200 key figures, including Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chey Tae-won, Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, and Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) Secretary General Dimitri S. Kerkentzes.

In his opening message, Prime Minister Han illustrated the vision for World Expo 2030 Busan, stating that it will be "a platform for cooperation and solidarity through which we can reduce gaps among countries and tackle climate change and other issues."

American economic and social theorist Jeremy Rifkin was one of the keynote speakers at the symposium, highlighting the need for World Expo 2030 Busan and sharing his thoughts on Korea's development experience and technology having the potential to contribute to resolving global issues like climate change.

Other keynote speakers include Pennsylvania State University Professor Samuel Richards, Stanford University Professor Lee Jin-hyung and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Oh Youngju.

Adding the support were the World Expo 2030 Busan Bid Committee's private sector members as well: the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), Samsung Electronics, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG, Lotte, POSCO, Doosan, HD Hyundai, GS E&C and Hanwha Aerospace.

On the morning of October 9, Prime Minister Han, KCCI Chairman Chey, Busan Mayor Park and Presidential Envoy Jang Sung-min held a press conference for the local Parisian media outlets to promote Korea's competency as host candidate.

Prime Minister Han then met with the French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne on the same morning to discuss follow-up measures to the two countries' summit meeting and ways to strengthen bilateral ties.

The two prime ministers agreed on the urgent need for joint efforts of the international community concerning North Korea's repeated nuclear missile provocations. Moreover, in view of France being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and Korea due for non-permanent member participation through 2024-2025, both sides reconfirmed their commitment to deepen joint efforts, including the implementation of the UNSC resolutions.

Noting that France is a value-sharing country and has built close relations as one of the nations that fought in the Korean War, Prime Minister Han assessed that high-level exchanges between the two countries are growing stronger as of late. He also requested the cooperation of the French government in terms of fostering a favorable environment for Korean companies with respect to France's revision on subsidy rules for electric vehicles (EVs).

Prime Minister Borne welcomed her counterpart's visit to France and viewed that the two countries have been closely collaborating across all areas, expressing her expectations for future cooperation in aerospace, energy and such advanced industries, as well as in the Indo-Pacific region.

Prime Minister Han then held bilateral talks and a luncheon meeting on the same day with ambassadors to Paris from BIE member countries.

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