The 2021 Korea Basic Income Fair, the world's largest
venue for public discussions on basic income, attracted more than
600,000 online and offline visitors before ending its three-day
program on April 30.
SUWON, South Korea,
May 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Held
under the theme of "Humans Humanely, Basic Income" and organized
by the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, the 2021
Korea Basic Income Fair successfully concluded its three-day
program on April 30.
This year's fair was held both online and offline in accordance
with COVID-19 social distancing guidelines. Approximately 600,000
people visited the fair's international conference, its offline and
online exhibition halls, and the official website.
In his opening address on April
28, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jaemyung said, "Now, the
world is suffering from continuous low economic growth due to lack
of demand. Basic income guarantees economic recovery and continuous
growth by expanding demand through income support."
During the opening ceremony, 53 local governments, including the
Gyeonggi Provincial Government, joined the inaugural meeting of the
Local Government Council on Basic Income and selected Ulsan's Ulju
Mayor Lee Sun-ho as the first
chairperson of the Council. The Council declared its commitment to
publicly discuss the local government-level basic income initiative
so as to institutionalize and expand it nationwide.
The International Conference on Basic Income was live-streamed
on the fair's official Webpage (basicincomefair.gg.go.kr) and
YouTube for two days from April 28 to
29 on the topic of "From the COVID-19 Disaster to New Great
Transition, Basic Income".
68 scholars and experts from Korea and abroad participated
in the conference as speakers to discuss basic income and local
currency policies. The speakers included Sarath Davala, President of the Basic Income
Earth Network (BIEN), and Joseph E.
Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia
University and a 2001 Nobel Prize-winning economist.
The 2021 Fair opened a 3D virtual exhibition so that visitors
could learn more about basic income and local currency through
videos, e-books, and other online materials.
Kim Jae-yong, Chief of Policy
Commitment at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, said, "More and
more people are becoming interested in this annual fair. We will
make an effort to expand various basic income policies and models
discussed at the international conference."
CONTACT:
Gyeonggi Provincial Government,
GyeonggiPress@gmail.com
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