Minister Suh Seoung-hwan of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport delivers his congratulatory speech 

at the 22nd Road Day ceremony  and also the launch of the Organizing Committee for the 25th World Road Congress 2015 

at COEX in Seoul July 5.(Photo: MLIT)

A ceremony for the launching of the Organizing Committee of the 25th World Road Congress 2015 in Seoul took place at COEX in southern Seoul on July 5 in conjunction with a ceremony for the 22nd Road Day attended by a slew of dignitaries led by Minister Suh Seoung-hwan of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT), Korea Expressway Corp. President Chang Seok-hyo, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, legislators, government officials, and some 1,000 others from the road management and construction industries. Awards and medals were presented at the ceremony to those who made contributions to the development of highways and roads in Korea.

The huge event is scheduled for Nov. 2-6, 2015 in Seoul with road experts from 142 member countries of PIARC (Permanent International Association of Road Congresses) assembling to take up such issues as the exchange of road management technologies and policies. The event is considered the biggest gathering in the areas of road construction and management technology in the world.

Launched in 1909, PIARC is one of the largest international organizations, and its congress is held every four years with ministers and vice ministers from 50 member countries and representatives from 110 member nations totaling some 1,100 in attendance to discuss various issues on roads including management technology and construction.

At the event, Korean road construction and management technologies will be shown to the world, boosting chances for road construction firms to find road projects overseas. In order to bring that about, the organizing committee made up of various professionals from many areas including academics, business, journalism, and the government will be launched to make the global event a great success.

Minister Suh said in his congratulatory speech, “We ought to recall the spirit of challenge and passion they had at the time of highway construction between Seoul and Busan and fight the various side-effects of a shrunken SOC budget this year and open a progressive future of the road construction industry.”

The World Road Congress in 2015 is hoped to strengthen the international image of Korea’s highways and other roads, along with the technologies for their management and construction and be a turning point for the public’s understanding of highways and related industries in Korea.

A sideline event was a display of photos of highways and roads in Korea and an exhibition to show high-tech highway management technologies and smart highway technologies.

Officials of the MLIT said about 35,000 people from 120 PIARC member countries, including around 9,000 foreigners, are expected to come to Seoul for the 2015 Seoul World Road Congress adding some 100 billion won in economic spillover effects and creating 1,300 jobs in Korea. The global event needs public support to be a great success, they said.

Minister Suh continued to say in his welcoming speech at the Road Day ceremony that the MLIT will try its best to open a new age of roads for the sake of the welfare and safety of the people. Safety will be the key word in its policies for roads in order to wash away the dirty name stuck on Korea as the country with the largest number of road accidents in the world.

“We will try to solve the traffic congestion on city streets around the country and also make the drivers and passengers in cars feel happy while on the road,” Suh said.

“But to do this, what we need also is support from the people. The 2015 Seoul World Road Congress could open the way for our plans. We will try to find a new growth engine by fusing the roads with IT and provide better services and expand welfare for the people,” the minister said.