ROTREX 2009 to Coincide with REAAA Conference, 2009 PIARC Council Meeting

The three international events take place in one place - Songdo Convensia in Incheon - in September

Korea Express Corp. President & CEO Lieu Chull-ho, concurrently chairman of the Korea Road & Transportation Association (KRTA), has his hands full with the additional job of preparing to host three international road and traffic-related events slated for September in Incheon.
Lieu heads the organizing committee of the 3rd International Road & Traffic Expo 2009 (ROTREX 2009), the 13th REAAA Conference and the 2009 PIARC Council Meeting.
"As you know, REAAA and PIARC are international organizations established by road and traffic professionals in the Asia-Oceania region and Europe, respectively. It is more significant than ever that these events will be held in one place to share information and promote personnel exchanges, transcending continental and national barriers,"he said.
Despite his tight business schedule, the KRTA chairman has been taking time out to make overseas business trips to publicize the upcoming road and traffic events. He has so far met with foreign road policymakers and related notables in about 10 countries ― an equivalent to traveling to two or three countries per week.
These events, dubbed as the "2009 Festival of Those in the Global Road and Traffic Industry,"will be held for a four-day run from Sept. 23-26 at Songdo Convensia in Incheon with roughly 3,500 road and traffic experts from 60 countries expected to participate. Organizers said the purpose of the festival is to raise Korea's standing by publicizing the nation's technological prowess in the road and traffic field to the world and make ROTREX 2009 an opportunity to spur the development of the domestic industries and raise Korea's competitive edge.
The chairman of the organizing committee said, "I expect the 2009 Festival of Those in the Global Road and Traffic Industry to not only become an international academic seminar, but to have business spill-over effects as a trade channel for spreading advanced road and traffic technologies based on the applications of road engineering as well as to serve as an opportunity to reconfirm the unlimited value of roads and let road users know their significance."
The 2009 Festival of Those in the Global Road and Traffic Industry has such diverse events as the 13th Road Engineering Association of Asia & Australasia (REAAA) General Meeting; technical sessions on 14 fields; the Ministerial Session in which cabinet member-level officials from 20 countries are expected to attend; and the 8th Heads of Road Authorities (HORA) Meeting with road policymakers from REAAA member nations participating. MOUs on technological ties-ups among participating countries will be signed, and technological and cultural tours designed to publicize Korea will be arranged.
In addition to a joint seminar with REAAA, the World Road Association (PIARC) Council will hold its own, separate seminar at the Incheon Sheraton Hotel from Sept. 20-26.
Roughly 250 corporate exhibitors are expected to set up about 600 booths at ROTREX 2009, the largest road & traffic show in Asia. The exhibition is expected to attract an estimated 30,000 spectators.
The organizing committee, which was inaugurated last October, said the festival is almost assured of being successful.
Approximately 1,000 officials from 38 REAAA member countries and related industries have applied to participate in the 13th REAAA General Meeting and REAAA Council Meeting, to be held under the theme "Future Roads ― Safer, Greener & Smarter."A total of 338 tutorials, more than expected, were submitted for presentation at the international seminars. The selection of the chairs of the 14 sessions is underway among Korean and foreign notables as is the screening of the winners of the Katahira Foundation awards.
Preparations for holding the Ministerial Session and the 8th HORA Meeting, which will further boost the standing of the festival, will be made in a flawless manner. Ministers and vice ministers from 11 countries have confirmed their participation as of July. They include ranking officials from such non-member countries as Algiers and Tanzania as well as countries with which Korea has no diplomatic ties. The Incheon Metropolitan City Government, the co-organizer of the festival, is holding negotiations with airlines to give discounts to participating VIPs. The organizing committee has also established a watertight protocol plan for welcoming the VIPs, and it plans to set up an information center for general participants at Incheon International Airport.
Accommodations for about 1,500 foreign participants have been already secured. A total of 1,700 rooms in such hotels as the Incheon Sheraton and Songdo Park Hotel, located within a radius of 500 meters from Songdo Convensia, the venue of the festival, have been reserved.
"Now is the time when we need to transfer road and traffic technology we have accumulated so far to developing countries as well as acquire more new technologies, which has been updating day by day, from advanced countries, and a nation, which made roads and went forward abroad, conquered the world,"said Lieu, adding that that the 2009 Festival of Those in the Global Road and Traffic Industry will provide those in the domestic road and traffic industry with such an opportunity. nw

Korea Express Corp. President & CEO Lieu Chull-ho, concurrently chairman of the Korea Road & Transportation Association (KRTA), speaks at he Road Day anniversary ceremony.

ROTREX 2009 will take place at Songdo Convensia on Sept. 23-26 simultaneously with the 23th REAAA Conference and PIARC Council Meeting. Korea, which have accumulated technology and experiences in the road and traffic sector, is redoubling efforts to win the right to host the 2015 PIARC World Congress.