(CNN) -- While the Olympic Games in London steals the world's attention,
over 5,000 miles away another global event born from the same ideal of
cultural exchange and peaceful rivalry is entering the home stretch.
Rather
than competition, Expo 2012 in the city of Yeosu, South Korea, is the
latest incarnation of an event that officially is meant to foster
international understanding; unofficially it is used for national
promotion, boosting trade and providing networking opportunities.
Of
the approximately 4 million visitors that will have wandered through
the transformed cement port and industrial site before it closes on
August 12, most will have been there to enjoy the pavilions hosting
interactive displays on ocean conservation and marine exploration -- the
theme of this year's event.
But a small but notable minority
will not have been there to watch the shows. For them it provides a
number of chances to broker deals and reach new contacts where 104
countries can be reached in a day.
There has to be a reason for governments and private companies to be here and spend money on it.
Stine L. Guldmann, director of Denmark Pavilion
"It's
government relations really," said Stine L. Guldmann, director of the
Denmark pavilion. "South Korea is quite important to Denmark. It's an
opportunity to brand your country both in a tourism way but also attract
skillful people or showcase our abilities."
Expo 2012 architecture Expo 2012 architecture
Denmark's
pavilion is funded by a mix of public and private money, including some
Danish companies at the forefront of the renewable energy industry.
Lego bricks are on hand to attract the visitors and keep them
entertained, but a backroom for more grown-up meetings is regularly
used.
"There has to be a reason for them both (government and
private companies) to be here and spend money on it," said Guldmann.
"It's a success if our private partners are happy with their
participation and our political relations are very strong."
The
basic principle of Expos is non-commercial and educational, according to
the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the organizing body
that was founded in 1928.
Yet that has not prevented a strong
presence from the commercial sector, with a large part of the Yeosu site
devoted to temporary pavilions from South Korea's biggest corporations,
some of which were built at a cost of more than $1million.
"Expos
don't provide concrete benefits for companies," says Lee Joon-hee,
Commissioner for Expo 2012. "But is it still relevant... the evidence of
why they are still relevant is that a lot of companies and countries
want to host Expos."
Participant countries have different reasons
to be in Yeosu. Qatar and the U.S, with strong trade and diplomatic
ties to South Korea, respectively, have been two of the more popular
pavilions.
It's the only place where you can create something that has a critical mass around it.
Andrew Snowhite, CEO, USA Pavilion
Earlier
this year a 20-year deal for Qatar to supply South Korea with natural
gas was signed between the two countries, but pavilion manager Mona
Sulaiti was keen to stress that the reason for their participation at
event "is about people, not business relationships."
Andrew
Snowhite, CEO of the U.S. Pavilion, believes the event is unique in its
scope and potential. "It's the only place where you can create something
that has a critical mass around it; it's a very large event. It's a big
tourism opportunity for some, for others it's about trade," he said.
For
developing countries like Angola, participation is a way to draw
attention to a little known country, either as a holiday destination or
potential trading partner.
"We don't see it as being old
fashioned," said Claudia Santana of Angola's pavilion. "We are building
our country since 2002... if you search for an official tourism website
in Angola you can't find it, so we have to find other ways to show our
country. There's a lot of work ahead for our country and this is part of
it."
For all the fostering of relationships and networking over
glasses of sweet tea or Lego, ultimately the biggest tangible benefit of
the event goes to Yeosu itself.
The city is little known by
people within South Korea let alone internationally, but around
$2billion spent on operations and facilities from the government, BIE
and private investors has completely transformed it.
"This area
is relatively backwards and needs a boost," said Lee Joon-hee, saying it
is part of a larger project to develop South Korea's southern "Sun
Belt". "It will put Yeosu on the map. We have big ambitions to be a
famous marine resort area."
Yeosu's infrastructure has been
upgraded, with new, marble-smooth roads cutting through the lush
hillsides and along the coast, while the train to the capital Seoul now
takes half the time it used to.
While it is still undecided what
will happen to most of the Expo site when it closes -- conference
centers and shopping malls have been mooted -- and tourism to the region
develops, there will be an immediate beneficiary of the improved
infrastructure: the petrochemical industry. Just a few miles from the
Expo is one of South Korea's biggest industrial complexes that dwarfs
the Expo site and is the area's largest industry.
"For the moment we just want domestic development," says Lee, "Secondary is marine resort development."
Source: Edition.cnn.com/2012/08/02/business/south-korea-expo-business-travel/index.html
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