There was a ground-breaking ceremony in Gwangju on 21 August for the construction of the second convention center, which will be the second after the current Kimdaejung Convention Center in the region.
The total of 61.8 Bio Won is being invested into constructing the second convention center. Once completed in May 2013, it will provide 19 small and medium sized meeting rooms which can accomodate 3,000 people, multi-purpose halls, and other related facilities in the 4 story building (one underground and three overground floors) within the total area of 18,489.58 sq. meters.
This new project to build the second convention center in Gwangju is to promote the Southwestern region of Korea (Jeolla-do) as a MICE hub by implementing infrastructure to meet the needs of large sized international meetings, conventions, and exhibitions in the coming years.
With the new addition of the second convention center in 2013 and expanded infrastructure, the city of Gwangju plans to host large-scale international events such as ‘The World Korean Business Convention’ in 2013, ‘The World Hydrogen Energy Conference’ in 2014, and ‘2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade’ successfully. This will prepare Gwangju to build more competency when competing to host large-scale international events as well as to increase economic effect and enhance the branding of the city. In addition, the opening of the KTX (the bullet train) in Gwangju will also have a positive effect on the local economy with improved accessibility and contribute in promoting Gwangju as the MICE hub in the region.
