Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon to Launch

Event will showcase some 20 international conferences, exhibitions and diverse events during the 80-day run

The following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and Hong Jong-il, deputy mayor for political affairs at the Incheon Metropolitan City Government, who spoke about the municipal government's flawless preparations to make the Global Fair & Festival a success.
Question: Will you give us the specifics of the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon, including the significance for the city to host the event and its expected benefits?
A: Incheon is a metropolis furnished with almost complete logistics infrastructure, which is rarely seen in Korea or overseas. The city has a world-class airport and an international seaport. It is also supported by an exemplary free economic zone. In the latest development, the international giant networks company, Cisco, announced a plan to invest $2 billion over five years. This is proof that Incheon, which has remained undervalued, is regaining the global spotlight. The Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon is designed to publicize what it is.
Surveys by specialized institutions show that the event is projected to bring about production induction effects worth 1.15 trillion won, value-added induction effects worth 530 billion won and income induction effects worth 300 billion won in addition to the creation of about 10,000 jobs.
It will have more than just these benefits: Incheon's successful hosting of the event will lay the foundation to enhance the city's brand value and the pride of its citizens. In particular, I expect the event to serve as a good opportunity for people to regain hope and encouragement. If Incheon makes the 2014 Incheon Asian Games a success on the basis of its hosting of the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon, the city is expected to see its standing going even higher.
Q: Will you tell us about the schedule of the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon?
A: The Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon will raise its curtain in the New Songdo International City area on Aug. 7 and will last until Oct. 25. For this, a major venue is being built at a 240,000 square meter lot in the third section of the planned New Songdo International City, 33 times as wide as a soccer stadium.
It will hold roughly 20 international conferences during the 80-day period. Globally renowned scholars will get together to participate in such meetings and seminars as a Global Environment Forum, 2008 Asia Pacific Cities Summit and World City Water Forum as well as discuss cities of the future.
True to its name, the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon will comprise of diverse exhibitions, events and conferences. Spectators will take a look into the trends of advanced technologies, including robots and ubiquitous services at the Advanced Technology Pavilion.
The Green Growth Pavilion will awaken audiences to the importance of the environment of the earth and energy. Spectators will be given opportunities to experience future vehicles and make bio fuel themselves.
The Global Culture Streets will be a mesmerizing and memorable festival-in-a-festival in which spectators may feel like they are making their way around the world, and exciting car parades will be presented.
Events and exhibitions will inspire the younger generation. The Robot, Science and Future Pavilion will hold an international robot competition and hold drama performances in which robots play.
Q: Will you tell us about the schedule of the Asia Pacific Cities Summit (APCS) and its topics?
A: APCS is a gathering in which mayors, ranking government officials, business leaders and young experts and scholars from the Asia-Pacific region assemble and exchange and share knowledge and visions of a creative urban development.
Approximately 600 to 1,000 CEOs and leaders in business, civilian and academic fields from the Asia-Pacific region will participate in APCS, which was inaugurated in Brisbane, Australia in 1996. Concern and participation from areas other than the Asia-Pacific region is rising these days. APCS is being held every two years, alternatively in Brisbane and another city in the region.
This year, APCS will be held for a three-day run from Sept. 15-17 at Songdo Convensia in New Songdo International City during the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon. The event will consist of a forum, a workshop and the main conference, which will be presided over by globally recognized authorities in creative urban planning and expert groups under such topics as "Creative Innovation in Master Planning," "Creative Sustainability," "Creative Culture and Diversity" and "Creative Economic Development." The keynote speakers of the event will include Jacques Attali, a renowned French economist and scholar, Richard Florida, the author of the book "The Rise of the Creative Class," and Masayuki Sasaki, a creative city specialist in Japan.
Q: Will you explain the timetable of the international conferences and their general features?
A: City mayors and world-class scholars will assemble for the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon in order to present future visions in diverse fields, including environment and urban development as well as advanced technology and culture. The Urban Redevelopment Conference & Exhibition that will open on August 6 for a two-day run will be the first of 20 international conferences with diverse themes, both small and large.
Approximately 1,000 people including policymakers and representatives from research institutes and NGOs from Korea and abroad, will attend the Global Environment Forum 2009, to be held at Songdo Convensia on August 11-12 under the theme of "Prospects of the Environment of the Earth in the 21st Century" and "Low-carbon, Green Growth Strategies Under Sustainable Development." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be one of the keynote speakers. Representatives from the OECD, European Commission and UNEP will participate in Session I: "Future Environmental Outlook," to be held between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on August 11, which will be followed by Session II: "Climate Change and Urban Sustainable Development." Participating environmental ministers will present "Green New Deal" and "Green Growth" strategies during Session III: "Ministerial Roundtable," on August 12, which will be followed by Session IV: "CEO Roundtable ― Responses to Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities," and Session V: "NGO Roundtable ― Responses to Climate Change: the Role of the Civil Society." The World City Water Forum 2009, which will run from August 18 through August 21 under the theme "Innovation and Harmony of Water and City," will discuss such issues as climate change and a shortage of water. It will be followed by Day of the River Conference of Korea, which will get under way from August 20-22.
Spectators will be given opportunities to fathom the trends of future cities' advanced technologies through such conferences as the ISCIT2009, to be sponsored by the IEEE, the world's leading professional association for the advancement of technology, and the 2009 U-City International Conference, RFID/USN Korea 2009 International Conference and International Telecommunications Energy Conference (INTELEC 2009), where authorities from electric, electronics, IT and other fields will participate.
There will be such international conferences as the Urban Redevelopment Conference & Exhibition, where the direction in which urban redevelopment should be headed will be discussed.
Discussions on such issues as the advancement of road transportation and the construction of intelligent transportation systems will be made through such international conferences as the International Road & Transportation Exhibition/Academic Conference, which will run from Sept. 22-26 and the 103rd FAI General Conference, to be held from Oct. 6-11.
The Incheon Culture Foundation will host the East Asia Sea Forum to form a network of 10 cities including Incheon, Yokohama, Kitakyushu, Tianjin and Shanghai.
The Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon will wrap up an 80-day run with the declaration of the "Incheon Communique."
Q: Will you elaborate on the variety of events that are part of the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon?
A: The seriousness of global warming as well as challenges and tasks facing human beings for their offspring's future cities will be presented in addition to such things as exciting rides and games tailored to have a better knowledge of environmental issues, raising educational effects.
The present and future of robots that may be part of families down the road will be featured through such diverse, exciting events as robot competitions and robot sports games. Children will be able to get a glimpse into a more convenient future society, fitted with advanced technology.
You will find programs in which you can experience diverse cultures from around the world. There will be cultural streets from five oceans and six continents that look as if they might have moved together there, reflecting their current lifestyle filled with mesmerizing performances and exhibitions. The streets may look like a big festive court teeming with diverse things to eat, see and experience as well as exchanges of talks and wondrous car parades, both small and large.
A kite-flying session with 2,009 kites containing the wishes of children from around the world will be held during the opening ceremony. Such events as multimedia water shows, monthly regular performances, weekend shows, citizens' hands-on open stage events and international digital art festivals will also be held.
Children will be given the chance to take a look at the past, present and future of Incheon, and they will be given a message of hope about the future cities where they will live.
Q: Will you explain your city's preparations for hosting the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon and a movement to encourage citizens' participation?
A: The venues of the main events are now almost in the final stage of completion, and the work on indoor content exhibitions is also picking up speed. Civic participation is an essential factor for successfully hosting the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon as roughly 13,000 people are active and the number of families offering home-stays to foreigners has risen to 200, doubling the target. Many accommodation establishments have volunteered to provide a pleasant accommodation environment and many civic organizers have joined forces in a law-abiding drive. Civic groups and the Citizens Festival Committee have formed up to make the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon a hands-on one for citizens. A final touch is being made on the finalizing of programs being organized by the committee.
Q: Will you give specifics of the city's bid to attract foreign direct investments and a plan to enhance its standing and brand value during the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon?
A: Approximately 120 Korean and foreign cities and 50 businesses will operate in the global city and corporate company pavilions of the main venues of the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon, serving as an opportunity for business activities between cities and cities, between cities and companies and between businesses and businesses with Incheon being in the center of such exchanges.
About 20 international conferences will be channels to publicize Incheon globally, and foreign participating experts from government, business and other fields will have long-standing memories of Incheon.
We expect the Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon to lay the foundation for making Incheon a magnet for sound investments. nw

Hong Jong-il, deputy mayor for political affairs at the Incheon Metropolitan City Government