Five speakers for the 5th presentation (PT), which will be held just before the decision on the location of the 2030 World Expo (Expo), have been revealed. They are former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Prime Minister Han Deok-soo, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Choi Tae-won, Busan Mayor Park Hyeong-jun, and Busan Expo public relations ambassador Na Seung-yeon. Former Secretary-General Ban will serve as the final speaker and emphasize the need for solidarity in the international community.
Five people, including former Secretary-General Ban, attended the 2030 Expo Busan at the 173rd general meeting of the Organization for International Exhibitions (BIE) held at the Palais des Congrès in Issy-le-Molineau, a suburb of Paris, France, at approximately 2:30 p.m. on the 28th (approximately 10:30 p.m. Korean time). Give a speech appealing for attraction. After PT, which takes place in the order of Korea, Italy, and Saudi Arabia, voting begins.
Opening the speech, Busan Mayor Park plans to introduce the charms of Busan for 2 minutes and 30 seconds under the theme of ‘Beautiful and Free Global Festival City’ along with the city’s representative characters, Boogie and Expo Friends. Public Relations Ambassador Na, who served as spokesperson for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics bid committee, will explain the vision as a ‘solution platform for the future of humanity.’ Choi Tae-won, chairman of the Busan Expo private bid committee and chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, emphasizes the promise of companies to contribute to solving human problems through Korea’s solution platform WAVE. Prime Minister Han presents government support measures such as expansion of the official development assistance (ODA) budget and support plans for developing countries. Former Secretary General Ban plans to express the legitimacy of the Busan Expo to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The beginning, middle, and end of the PT are filled with videos. The opening begins with the video ‘Busan Seagull’s Dream’, which contains the footsteps of people from all walks of life over the past 10 years to attract Busan. After the speeches by Busan Mayor Park, Ambassador Na, Chairman Choi, and Prime Minister Han, a video titled ‘Korea’s sincerity in repaying the help it received from around the world’ is shown, which contains the story of a Korean War veteran and his granddaughter. At the end of the PT, conductor Myung-Hoon Chung, singer Sumi Jo, actor Jung-Jae Lee, and singers Psy and Jun-Su Kim, who are public relations ambassadors for the Busan World Expo, join citizens in emphasizing Busan’s voting symbol, number 1.
After the PT, the BIE member voting group takes the final vote. If a city receives more than two-thirds of the votes among the 182 member countries in the first round of voting, it will be confirmed as the host city. The results of the first round of voting are expected to come out around 00:40 on the 29th, Korean time.
If the host city is not confirmed in the first round of voting, the city with the fewest votes will be eliminated, and the remaining two cities will hold a runoff election. In this case, the final results are expected to be released around 1 to 2 am on the 29th, Korean time.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.