KINTEX to Double Facilities

Exhibition hall to generate 40,000 jobs and make bigger space environmentally friendly

KINTEX in Ilsan, northwest of Seoul, has become a loyal enterprise for the nearby community, generating 573 billion won worth of productivity annually and providing some 20,000 jobs based on data collected as of the end of last year, the company reported recently.
The figures are double those recorded during the initial year of KINTEX’s operation in 2005. The largest exhibition facility in Korea has attracted some 1.644 million tourists to the facility in the past four years, with the number of exhibitions held at the facility totaling over 2,100 including 85 displays and 333 conventions, earning 23.5 billion won in rental fees with its operating ratio reaching over 50 percent within five years of its opening.
It usually takes more than five years for a large exhibition facility to achieve that ratio, but KINTEX made it in 2007 with an operating ratio of 53 percent, just two years and eight months after its opening in 2005.
President Han Joon-woo said KINTEX recorded total operating income of 5.4 billion won, compared to 1.3 billion won in the preceding year, up four times, but it incurred a loss of 1.1 billion won when taking depreciation into account. He said he will make sure that this year would be a profitable year for KINTEX.
KINTEX’s facility exhibition space will double to 108,483 square meters, as its expansion project will be completed in September next year. When the expansion project is completed next year, KINTEX will be able to attract a number of large international exhibitions to its expanded exhibition facilities including the International Textile Machinery Exhibition and the International Communication Expo, among others. It will boost its annual productivity to 770 billion won and create 40,000 jobs next year.
KINTEX will take special care to make sure that its second exhibition hall will be a green exhibition space by installing all kinds of energy saving facilities under a strict observation of the energy use standards for the new display facility.
When those environmentally friendly facilities for using earth heat, sunlight, rainwater and other renewable resources are installed in the new exhibition hall it will be able to save some 1 billion won in energy costs and reduce over 4,000 tons of toxic gases from the exhibition facilities per year, KINTEX officials said recently.
The earth heat system, which will cool as well as warm up the facilities, will also save 744 megawatt hours of power by generating clean energy and it will reduce 363 tons of CO2. Natural light will be used to light the new exhibition facility to save energy consumption as well as extend the use periods of lighting equipment.
KINTEX has strengthened its safety regulations recently, along with energy saving measures to protect some 3.6 million visitors coming to its facilities annually by upgrading the quality of its facilities based on the 2010 New Manual for Crisis Management announced in May by strengthening the safety standards of its facilities to guarantee the visitors’ safety even during disasters like earthquakes, terrorist attacks, fire and emergency patient care, among others.
President Han said, “We have to take care of various matters for energy saving after strengthening various safety standards at KINTEX so that KINTEX will continue to keep its position as one of the best exhibition facilities in the world not only in scale, but also in its internal operations.”
KINTEX, located in Daehwa-dong, Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, jointly built by KOTRA and local autonomous organizations, is the largest exhibition facility in Korea.
The largest and newest venue of Korea, KINTEX (Korea International Exhibition Center), co-financed by three governmental organizations (KOTRA, Gyeonggi Province and Goyang-city) was opened in April 2005.
Currently, KINTEX is leading a major surge of space availability in Korea, offering multi-functional indoor exhibition space of 53,975m2. With five exhibition halls and 23 meeting rooms, KINTEX has been successfully staging numerous exhibitions, meetings and events in its full diversity.
The ongoing expansion plan is comprised of two more steps. The second phase of KINTEX is scheduled to be complete in September 2011, providing additional space availability of more than 50,000m2 together with world-class meeting facilities, which is expected to position KINTEX as a venue of global standard.
As one of Korea’s great initiatives to globalize Korea, and to actively promote world-trade and create magnificent economic spin-off, KINTEX is becoming a leading exhibition center of Asia.
KINTEX is the leading international exhibition complex in Northeast Asia in size, operational systems and service quality. It is equipped with facilities and infrastructure superior to other exhibition centers all over the world. In particular, the KINTEX exhibition hall is a single-floor pillarless structure, while most of the other exhibition centers in Northeast Asia consist of multiple floors. This unique feature makes it possible for KINTEX to effectively accommodate exhibition organizers’ various demands and boost its reputation as an advanced international exhibition center. nw

A scene from the construction of the second exhibition hall at Kintex to be completed in September, 2011 with 50,000 square meters of additional space to make Kintex a leading international exhibition complex in Northeast Asia in size, operational systems and service quality. The photo above is a view of Kintex.