SM general producer Lee Soo Man signed a business agreement with Saudi Arabia and proposed to the princess and vice minister of tourism to “open a K-pop festival to plant trees.”
On December 5th, SM Entertainment held a meeting with SM CEO Lee Sung Soo, SM SEA & MENA Branch Manager Han Kyung Jin, Saudi Arabian Princess and Deputy Minister of Tourism Haifa bint Muhammad Al Saud, and Saudi Tourism Agency CEO Fahd Hamidaddin. On November 29th (local time), it was reported that a business agreement was signed at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Lidiya, Saudi Arabia.
According to SM, the goal of this business agreement is to combine Lee Soo Man’s production know-how, which is called cultural technology, and SM’s content intellectual property rights (IP) with Saudi Arabia’s cultural heritage. This strategic partnership regarding the production and marketing of various contents that can promote Saudi tourism globally.
Producer Lee, SM, and the Saudi Tourism Board plan to appoint SM artists as ambassadors for tourism in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, they will produce contents such as music videos and travel reality programs centered on Saudi-based tourist destinations and promote tourism in Saudi Arabia.
On this day, in a conversation with the Princess, producer Lee mentioned his vision of revitalizing the Saudi tourism industry. He said, “It is time to concretely implement a net zero roadmap for sustainability on Earth”, adding, “I want to make it possible for anyone to participate in the campaign to plant trees in desert areas, including Saudi Arabia, so that we can create a better planet through and help prevent carbon neutrality and desertification.”
Producer Lee also recently met with Mongolian government officials to discuss the creation of a smart entertainment city in Mongolia, and decided to hold a “K-Pop Festival to Plant Trees”.
He said, “If the audience who came to see the performance held a campaign to plant trees, it would be of great help to prevent desertification and protect the environment. Let’s have a music festival to plant trees and save the earth in the Middle East and Mongolia in 2023″
“If Saudi Arabia joins K-pop, K-pop fans and young people from all over the world will come. This will become a global ‘Sustainability Movement’ , an event of planting trees and music festivals that everyone wants to participate in”, he added, “We want to realize it. If we start a project that makes the Earth greener in places where desertification is occurring, and in deserts, it will be expanded to cities all over the world.”
Earlier, the producer proposed the Diriya Metaverse Project, which mirrors the Diriya Museum, a UNESCO-listed historic site, into virtual reality.
He said, “We will mirror the city of Diriya in reality, then make it a simulation in the virtual metaverse, and later mirror it again and implement it in the physical metaverse. In this way, Diriya will be the world’s first city to own a museum created with both virtual and physical metaverse.”
In response, Princess Haifa expressed her willingness to actively participate in the “Planting Trees and Saving the Earth” suggested by the SM producer. According to SM, the princess said, “If young people and tourists from all over the world who visit Saudi Arabia to watch a K-pop concert reserve accommodations, planting a tree under the name of the reservation will increase participation and be effective.”
She also added, “I was inspired by Lee So Man’s excellent vision and specific promotion strategy for the Saudi tourism industry, so I really wanted to work with him. I want to develop long-term sustainable development together with producer Lee Soo Man and SM.”
This is the third meeting between producer Lee and Princess Haifa. In the meantime, the two sides have agreed to cooperate by sharing opinions on cultural industry projects to be carried out together, such as video content and festival event production through collaboration with local production companies in Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand, SM CEO Lee Sung Soo said, “I think we can create meaningful results with the Saudi Tourism Authority based on SM’s IP, content production and business capabilities. Not only will it develop Saudi Arabia’s tourism industry, but it will also serve as an opportunity to further promote SM’s content and Korean culture.”
Source: Insight
