The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Nigeria Office has on Thursday promoted the World EXPO 2030 Busan during the debriefing session of the 2020 KOICA Scholarship Awardees.
The KOICA Country Director, Son Sungil, this was an opportunity for 13 civil servants who studied at prestigious universities in Korea between 2020 and 2022 through KOICA’s fellowship program (CIAT) to share their knowledge and experiences.
According to him, In 2021, the Republic of Korea, submitted a bid to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) to host the World Expo 2030 in Busan, Korea with the theme “Transforming Our World, Navigating Toward a Better Future”, and sub-themes of 1) climate change; 2) downsides of the digital transformation; and 3) inequality among and within nations, in line with the three pillars of the UN SDGs – people, planet, and prosperity.
Providing brief overview he said the World Expo 2030 is a global gathering of nations dedicated to finding innovative solutions to global challenges of health, climate change, and other challenges of our time.
Sungil, explained that the choice of Busan was due to the fact that it is Korea’s second-largest city and greatest port city, which therefore has the capacity to welcome world leaders and millions of visitors from around the world. Korea is prepared to make the World EXPO 2030 Busan an opportunity to share with other countries its unprecedented story of transformation from recipient of aid to a donor country in just half a century, and strengthen existing platforms of assistance to developing countries.
In attendance were the KOICA Nigeria Office team, led by the Country Director, Son Sungil, Representatives of the South Korea International Cooperation Association of Nigeria (SKICAN) Rabiu Adamu and the returnees from Korea.
