Consortia led by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and Hanwha Group are vying for a state-led project to build a new landmark in southern Seoul by upgrading the Jamsil Sports Complex to a global MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) venue by 2029.

KITA and Hanwha Engineering & Construction Co. said Monday that they submitted bids to participate in the project. KITA’s consortium includes COEX, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and KB Financial Group, and Hanwha Group’s consortium is comprised of HDC Group, Hana Financial Investment and Shinhan Bank. Hanwha E&C and HDC Hyundai Development Co. have teamed up with the country’s another MICE operator KINTEX for the tender.

The South Korean government is seeking to build a global MICE facility on a 350,000-square-meter area around Jamsil Sports Complex in Seoul by 2029. The center will include a 120,000-square-meter convention center, baseball park with a seating capacity of 35,000, multi-purpose sports facility with 11,000 seats, 900-room hotel, cultural and commercial facility and business facility. Seoul City expects the MICE center would hold a number of exhibitions and conferences that could draw 110,000 or more visitors including foreigners and produce 1.5 trillion won ($1.2 billion) or above worth economic effect.

It was KITA that first proposed the idea to the Seoul City government in 2016. The association founded the country’s first international exhibition center COEX in 1979, and has expanded it as a MICE center by attracting big name international conferences including the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in 2000 and the G20 summit in 2010.

KITA chairman Koo Ja-yeol has a particular interest in the MICE industry. His late father Koo Pyung-hoi, former honorary chairman of E1, led the construction of ASEM Tower while he was serving as a KITA chief from 1994 to 1999, making a huge contribution to the country’s successful hosting of the ASEM summit in 2000.

Hanwha consortium has been joined by tech companies including Hanwha Systems, Nexon and Megazone. They plan to apply latest technologies such as metaverse and virtual reality to the center.

“Jamsil MICE complex will not just be the next COEX but the new center of Seoul and Korea’s representative future-oriented facility,” said Hanwha consortium. “We will do our best to ensure that the center serves the public interest as much as possible by not only coming up with creative design and applying future technologies but also working for carbon neutrality and social value creation.”

By Han Woo-ram, Kwon Han-wool and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]