The 2018 Sharing Economy Forum was hosted on November 2 at the International Conference Hall of the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation with the participation of approximately 750 provincial residents.

Under the theme “The Beginning of a New Gyeonggi through Sharing Economy,” the forum opened discussions on global sharing economy trends, Korea’s place among these trends, and the role of Gyeonggi Province against this backdrop. A total of 750 provincial residents, including students, corporate employees, individuals from civic organizations and others, participated in the discussions. This number represents the high level of interest in these topics held among various segments of society.

The keynote session, “The Era of Sharing Economy: How Will It Change?” was co-presented by Professor Trebor Scholtz from The New School in New York City, a global expert on sharing economy, and Lee Jae-woong, CEO of SoCar and Co-Head of the Private Sector Department in the Innovative Growth Division of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. During this session, speakers shared their thoughts on the global transition into sharing economies and how different parties have reacted, offering diverse examples and interesting insights. This topic garnered much interest from the participants.

In the first regular session, Anju Ishiyama, the General Manger of the Sharing Economy Association of Japan, gave a presentation on “The Era of Sharing Economy: Regulatory Innovation,” in which she shared case studies of systemic improvements made in Japan to further encourage sharing economy domestically. Meanwhile, Koo Ja-hyun, a Senior Researcher at the Korea Development Institute (KDI), gave a presentation on “The Era of Sharing Economy: Limitations and Overcoming Obstacles,” sharing suggestions for policy improvements that foster sharing economy in Korea. Both presentations were successful, receiving much interest from the audience.

Participants also took part in panel discussions with Lee Sang-hyun, Head of Public Policy at Airbnb, and Nam Sung-pil, CEO of Airbloc Protocol, a blockchain-related company. In addition, participants attended a presentation on “The Era of Sharing Economy: Limitations and Overcoming Obstacles,” participated in panel discussions on youth employment, and reflected on other social issues such low economic growth and polarization.

Describing this event, a Gyeonggi provincial official said, “The 2018 Gyeonggi Province International Forum was initiated to discuss regulatory innovations and policy improvements relevant to sharing economy in order to raise awareness in different parts of society on the sharing economy model as well as to further integrate the model into society.” The official added, “Through this forum, the province intends to gather the opinions of its residents in different social groups and sectors and reflect their ideas and opinions in the province’s policies.”