With a month until the 2013 World Energy Congress to be held in Daegu, the Korean organizing committee announced the final list of speakers for the meeting Thursday.

The committee revealed the list during its presentation at a luncheon with the foreign business community in Korea to promote the upcoming world’s largest triennial energy event to be held between Oct. 13-17.

“About 238 speakers from 61 countries confirmed their attendance and will lead a variety of energy sessions to be run under the theme ‘Securing Tomorrow’s Energy Today’ during the event,” the 2013 WEC organizing committee said in a press release. 

The confirmed speakers include energy ministers, CEOs of energy companies, senior representatives of leading international organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank, OPEC and energy think tanks such as the International Energy Agency.

“With an expected turnout of over 5,000 senior level global delegates from both the private and public sectors, the 2013 WEC will be a key gathering point for the world’s energy leaders and policy makers,” the committee said.

“Korea is the right venue for hosting the WEC in a time when a big demand shift from West to East is taking place. People want to know how Asia will factor into the global energy scheme,” Korea Electric Power Corp. CEO Cho Hwan-eik, who chairs the WEC Daegu 2013 organizing committee, said at a joint luncheon with members from the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea and Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

The four-day premium energy event will deal with pending global energy issues such as the impact of the shale gas revolution on the energy supply, the future of nuclear power, and how to balance the use of fossil fuels with concerns about climate change.

According to the committee, the first day’s sessions will focus on the vision and scenarios for the future of energy.

On day two, it will identify the business opportunities that will accompany the energy revolution and discuss how to finance them.

The focus of day three is energy policy in both developing and developed countries. The final day will address energy access and efficiency from a social economic perspective based on the U.N. Sustainable Energy for All Initiative.

“Besides daily sessions to deal with energy issues, the energy industry exhibition led by global energy giants and start-ups from 20 countries will be held concurrently with the congress,” Cho said.

With the finalization of the list of speakers, the focus of the organization committee is shifting to logistics and security issues. “As the event is to be held out of Seoul, we are making all-out efforts to secure enough and comfortable accommodation facilities and developing a detailed security plan,” the committee said.

By Seo Jee-yeon  (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)