Global Forum on Basic Income and Regional Currency Will Unfold

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun Reporter] The "2020 Korea Basic Income Expo," a global policy festival featuring basic income and regional currency, will be held online (www.basicincomefair.gg.go.kr) for two days from September 10 to 11.

Park No-hun, chairman of the organizing committee for the "2020 Basic Income Expo," held a press conference at the National Assembly Communications Center on the 5th, stating, "We are hosting the 2020 Korea Basic Income Expo under the slogan 'People Treated as People' to widely inform the nation and the world of the significance of the basic income policy that began in Gyeonggi Province," and added, "This will be the world's largest-scale event discussing basic income and regional currency."
Attending the event were Park No-hun, spokesperson for the "2020 Basic Income Expo," Representative Yong Hye-in; Organizing Committee Member Representative Jang Kyung-tae; Park No-hun, Vice Chairman of the Expo Organizing Committee; Shim Kyu-soon, Chairman of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council Planning and Finance Committee; Kim Jae-yong, Gyeonggi Province Policy Commitment Chief; and Kim Hong-guk, Gyeonggi Province Spokesperson.

The "2020 Basic Income Expo," hosted by Gyeonggi Province and jointly organized by the Gyeonggi Research Institute, Gyeonggi Small Business and Market Promotion Agency, Basic Income Korea Network, and KINTEX Co., Ltd., is a festival featuring exhibitions and experiential programs where global scholars and experts participate in discussions on basic income and allow visitors to understand basic income policies at a glance.
The expo was originally scheduled to take place at Suwon Convention Center for four days from February 6 to 8, but it was postponed a week before the opening to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Organizing Committee explained that, considering the situation where concerns about COVID-19 spread have not been completely resolved, it will hold the expo as a non-contact online event through the expo homepage and livestreaming on Gyeonggi Province and broadcasting company YouTube channels, rather than conducting an offline event separately.

Chairman Park No-hun stated, "Despite the rapid unprecedented changes in the labor market due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, existing welfare systems are not keeping pace with the times," and urged, "As basic income emerges as a promising alternative as a welfare economic policy, we ask for your keen interest in the 2020 Korea Basic Income Expo, a policy festival discussing this," he appealed.
Organizing Committee Member Representative Jang Kyung-tae also noted, "The Youth Basic Income that Gyeonggi Province is spearheading has greatly contributed to changing the social perspective that took youth sacrifice for granted and expanding the political and social participation of young people," and continued, "We hope that a basic income implementation model suitable for Korea's circumstances will be created."
In the subsequent briefing on the expo implementation plan, Park No-hun, spokesperson for the organizing committee, explained, "Gyeonggi Province is creating a new economic ecosystem where villages and local economies regain vitality through basic income and regional currency," and added, "We have planned this expo with better quantity and quality than previous expos to further expand this flow of change."

Gyeonggi Province and the Expo Organizing Committee plan to organize and promote the event so that more than 100,000 cumulative visitors can view or access expo content, given that the expo is being held online in a non-contact format, making content access easier.
Specifically, the "2020 Korea Basic Income Expo" will begin with an online opening ceremony on the morning of September 10, followed by a declaration ceremony for the launch of the Basic Income Local Government Council, a special debate on basic income and an international conference on basic income, online exhibitions of basic income and regional currency, and will also feature a rich array of ancillary events where visitors can directly participate and experience.
At the online opening ceremony on the first day, Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung will present the achievements and future vision of the basic income policy through an opening address. In the afternoon, the "Basic Income Local Government Council Launch Declaration Ceremony" and "Special Debate on Basic Income" will take place. The launch declaration ceremony will feature representatives from about 40 local governments across the nation that are promoting or preparing basic income policies participating both online and offline, presenting a vision for basic income policy, and the special debate will feature Gyeonggi Province Governor and Jeremy Rifkin, a renowned economist and civilization critic, in a special discussion on "Post-Corona Basic Income."
The "International Conference on Basic Income" held on the second day will feature "A Fair and Sustainable World through Basic Income!" as its main theme, with 26 domestic and international scholars from some 10 countries, including former Brazilian Federal Senator Eduardo Suplicy, former South African National Assembly Member Karen Juste, and Annie Miller, co-founder of the Basic Income Earth Network, along with local government officials and directors of research institutions, participating in an online international forum.

The "Basic Income and Regional Currency Online Exhibition Hall" will be created on the expo homepage in the form of a virtual 3D exhibition space. Visitors can enter by accessing the "2020 Korea Basic Income Expo" homepage (www.basicincomefair.gg.go.kr) from a PC or mobile device.
The online exhibition consists of a total of 17 exhibition halls, including: ▲"Basic Income History Hall" where visitors can learn the historical background of the basic income agenda; ▲"Basic Income World Hall" where visitors can examine the international flow of basic income; ▲"Disaster Basic Income Hall" where visitors can review the content of disaster basic income implemented in response to COVID-19; ▲"Basic Income Ideas Contest" where innovative ideas about basic income are displayed as works; and ▲"Basic Income Film Festival," and will run participatory programs such as a participation activity where visitors find "virtual regional currency" during their exhibition tour and respond to events.
Additionally, the plan is to produce and promote an online instructional video featuring famous YouTuber Jang Duk-dae to ensure visitor convenience at the online expo.

Meanwhile, the official homepage for the "2020 Korea Basic Income Expo" is scheduled to open in mid-August ahead of the opening, and major exhibits such as the online exhibition halls are expected to be viewable before the expo officially opens.