Asia Reporters: “Incheon is ideal venue for achieving APEC’s three major goals”

By Lee Joo-hyung

INCHEON: The host city for the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit will be decided next month, in June.

While Incheon Metropolitan City, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province have announced their intention to host this summit in Korea, each local government is busy with last-minute attraction activities such as on-site inspection and PT for candidate cities.

Incheon Songdo Convensia, which is scheduled to be used as the 2025 APEC summit hall (Photo by  Incheon Metropolitan City Hall)

APEC, the largest cooperative organization uniting 40% of the world’s population

APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) is a cooperative organization that accounts for approximately 40% of the world’s population, approximately 59% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), and 50% of total trade volume. The APEC Summit, attended by leaders of 21 countries every year, is one of the largest international conferences in the world, lasting approximately 100 days, including ministerial and global corporate meetings.

APEC host cities may not only improve their global image but also create substantial added value. There are also predictions that the 2025 APEC Summit, which is expected to be attended by about 6,000 people, will create more than 20,000 jobs and enjoy economic added value of about 1.5 trillion won.

In order to hold such a large-scale international conference, it must meet the three major goals presented by APEC: ‘Trade and Investment’, ‘Innovation and Digital Economy’, and ‘Inclusive and Sustainable Growth’.

According to Incheon Metropolitan City, which is considered a likely host city, “Incheon is an investment hub with the largest free economic zone in the country, and is home to global companies leading innovative industries such as bio and semiconductors. In addition, through urban regeneration, we have laid the foundation for sustainable growth by embracing the original downtown and industrial districts.”

The 2025 APEC Summit Host City Selection Committee, which holds the actual authority to select the host site, is based on ‘the purpose of hosting the APEC Summit and the excellence of the basic plan’, ‘city conditions suitable for an international conference’, ‘summit operating conditions’, and ‘national and regional development’. Four standards, including ‘contribution’, have been announced. In what areas does Incheon Metropolitan City, which is considered a likely host city, have differentiated strengths?

On April 8, 2024, Incheon Transportation Corporation’s Wolmi Sea Train is running along the cherry blossom road to promote the Incheon Kindergarten Center for the 2025 APEC Summit at Wolmi Park in Jung-gu, Incheon (Photo by Yonhap News)

The first city you step into when you arrive in Korea

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Incheon is its excellent accessibility. Most member countries can arrive at Incheon International Airport without a separate transfer, and it takes less than 30 minutes to get from the airport to the event venue or accommodation. It is a geographical characteristic unique to Incheon Metropolitan City that even the capital, Seoul, cannot.

Incheon has also accumulated infrastructure and experience by hosting large-scale international events over the past 10 years, from the Incheon Asian Games (2014) to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) World Forum (2018) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) General Assembly (2023).

In particular, Songdo Convensia, Inspire Resort, and Paradise Incheon located in Incheon Metropolitan City have a total of 134 conference halls that can accommodate up to 48,000 people.

Incheon Metropolitan City Hall poster

Human and physical infrastructure in line with APEC values

From the perspective of national and regional development, Incheon’s strengths stand out. Incheon Metropolitan City, an investment hub with the largest free economic zone in the country, is faithfully performing its role as the world’s largest cutting-edge bio production base for companies such as Samsung BioLogics and Celltrion.

Fifteen international organizations and five global campuses located in Incheon also provide human and material infrastructure that is consistent with the values of APEC.

Incheon Metropolitan City’s advanced hosting activities are also one of the factors that make it a strong host city for the APEC summit. Incheon Metropolitan City started with the launch of the Pan-Citizen Attraction Committee in December 2022, followed by a 1 million signature campaign (May to August 2023), a meeting with heads of diplomatic missions of APEC member countries (July 2023), and the Global Incheon Forum for APEC Attraction ( October 2023) was faithful to all activities.

As a result, we received full support from the MICE industry, which is the foundation of international events, and expanded consensus with global companies and universities. In fact, Incheon Metropolitan City established a cooperation system for the APEC summit with major companies and universities such as Shinhan Bank, Celltrion, and Yonsei University.

A group of reporters from the Asia Journalist Association (AJA) covered Baengnyeong Island, a key security point in Incheon, and corporate and institutional sites through ‘AJA Comes to Incheon’ in April 2024. They agreed that hosting APEC in Incheon, a key security and economic center on the Korean Peninsula, would be highly symbolic (Photo by Asia Journalist Association)

What is the perspective of foreign journalists who will actually visit Incheon through APEC? Ashraf Dali, president of the Asia Journalist Association, a veteran journalist from the Middle East, said, “Incheon is an ideal venue that can realize APEC’s three major goals of ‘trade and investment,’ ‘innovation and digital economy,’ and ‘inclusive and sustainable growth.’ We have also witnessed Incheon’s innovative creation and growth over the years. ‘2025 APEC Incheon’ will be the starting point of opening a new era for the city,” he said.

Reporters from ASEAN countries that have held several APEC summits also said, “Even if you look around the major cities of ASEAN with active exchanges with neighboring countries, it is difficult to find a place with a more global friendly environment than Incheon.” “Considering the infrastructure, Incheon seems suitable for hosting an international event called APEC,” he said.

Incheon Metropolitan City Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok is taking a commemorative photo in front of the ‘2025 APEC Summit Invitation Sculpture’ installed at Incheon Ateul Plaza in front of Incheon Metropolitan City Hall on December 1, 2022.

The 8th popularly elected mayor of Incheon Metropolitan City, Yoo Jeong-bok, has made an all-out effort to host the 2025 APEC Summit in order to leap forward as one of the ‘world’s top 10 cities.’ Mayor Yoo said, “APEC is the only multilateral regional economic cooperation organization in which Korea participates, and APEC member countries are our biggest partners in trade and investment.” He added, “Incheon, an international city where everything is ready, will bring great change and rebirth for Korea through the APEC summit.” “I am confident that it will lead to a leap forward,” he said.

Can Incheon Metropolitan City go beyond the city and lead a great transformation and leap forward for the country? The host city for the 2025 APEC Summit, which will be the starting point, will soon be decided.

Lee Joo-hyung