Huge Event in Busan

3rd Busan Int'l Motor Show to attract 200 auto and parts firms from 20 countries

The Busan International Motor Show with a theme of "Automobiles and People, Eternal Companions"is scheduled to raise its grand curtain on April 27 and open until May 7 at Bexco in Busan, the second largest city in Korea. The international event will be staged by Busan Metropolitan City with the support of Bexco, Kotra, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association(KAMA), the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association(KAIDA), and the Korea Auto Industries Coop. Association(KAICA).
Busan Mayor Hur Nam-shik said the upcoming event will be the biggest among the three such shows held in the burgeoning port city with the city administration fully ready to make the show a complete success on the international note.
The organizing office of the Bexco event expects 200 auto makers, auto parts makers and accessory makers to have registered to participate in the global event operating some 1,700 booths. The 200 firms break down to 150 domestic firms and 50 foreign firms and over 1 million strong crowd will view the event, the third one to be staged in Busan, the largest port and second largest city in Korea.
On display will include five domestic car brands, three commercial car brands, 18 foreign passenger car brands and auto parts. Sales negotiations to be conducted at the motor show will be worth around $400 million, organizers said. Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, GM Daewoo, Renault-Samsung, and Ssangyong Motor, all are will show off their latest brand cars. They will also bring to the event three commercial vehicles including those made by Hyundai and Kia and a bus by GM Daewoo. Among the 18 foreign car brands are MINI, Chrysler,Jeep, Dodge, Honda, Maybach, and Infiniti, among others, to make the Busan motor show truly one of the best of its kind in the world. In addition, they expect the event is likely to attract both foreign and domestic tourists to bring an economic effect worth 300 billion won in related service business including lodging, dining, tourism, and transportation, among others. Organizers also expect the event will make related Korean industries strong as it will display foreign brand products compared against Korean products.
Bexco, the venue of the motor show, boasts of the finest convention and exhibition facilities, from holding such important international events as the APEC Busan Summit 2005, and the World Cup Match Lottery, among others, in addition to the first and second Busan Motor Show in recent years, gaining international recognition having successfully staged those events.
Bexco's exhibition hall with high ceilings and no pillars is very good for holding displays and its convention room was the venue for the APEC summit well-fitted for holding such large global meetings. Bexco is also ready with systems to provide various material services including manpower whenever they are needed. Making good use of those advantages, Busan City is ready to all it can to attract large international conventions and events in cooperation with related organizations including the Busan Convention Bureau, among others.
Organizers thought that the motor show would help business firms in the Busan and its surrounding areas find export markets for their products and eventually contribute to the establishment of an auto and parts manufacturing cluster in the region.
The side events to be held during the motor show include the lottery for cars with 10 passenger cars up for grabs, including eight domestic brands and two foreign cars, car audio festival to display some 200 car audio equipment outside the convention hall April 29-30, remote control car race May 6-7 outside Bexco complex May 6-7, with some 100 participants in the race, a seminar among car makers in Korea, Japan, and China on the topic of searching for ways for joint development of auto industries in the three neighboring countries May 3-4 at Bexco, export negotiations for auto makers with buyers May 2-3 at the convention hall and test-ride on hybrid and cars powered by hydrogen batteries on the roads near Bexco. nw

A view of Bexco in Busan where the Busan International Motor Show is scheduled to be held from April 27 and May 7.