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| Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mee gives a welcome speech at Park Hyatt Busan, Monday, during a ministerial meeting on "smart cities" which was held on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit. Yonhap |
By Kim Jae-heun
Korea and all 10 ASEAN member nations will form a ministerial-level consultative body to expand exchanges and cooperation in "smart city" projects, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, Monday.
According to the ministry, representatives of the 11 nations, including Korea's Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee, agreed to hold the consultative council meetings annually during their first meeting at Park Hyatt Hotel in Busan on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit.
Korea will chair the meetings, but they will be held in a different member country each time.
The consultative council plans to share solutions to the problems found in different cities of each country using big data, the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and robots.
Digital Economy and Society Minister Puttipong Punnakanta of Thailand, which is this year's chair of ASEAN, showed strong support for the cooperative initiative.
The government recognizes ASEAN countries as important cooperative partners in the smart city industry as well.
According to the ministry, the 10 ASEAN member nations hope to obtain knowhow and skills from Korea's experience with information and communication technology (ICT) and urban development.
As part of other plans to expand cooperation with ASEAN countries, the ministry will select four member nations to assist them with their smart city projects starting next year. It will also create a 1.5 trillion won ($1.27 billion) fund for overseas projects building plants and infrastructure, and invest 300 billion won of the fund for smart city development in ASEAN countries.
Training sessions will be offered to share Korea's experience in urban development with the countries.
Minister Kim said building smart cities is an important issue among ASEAN countries to solve urbanization challenges including population concentration and flood damage.
"It is an important time for Korea to form a cooperative platform with ASEAN countries to share its policies and technologies in the smart city sector. Today's ministerial meeting will provide momentum to confirm cooperation with ASEAN countries," Kim said.
The previous day, some ASEAN leaders joined President Moon Jae-in to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for Busan Eco Delta City (EDC), a smart city project for which the government will spend 5.4 trillion won for the next five years.
"If ASEAN countries build a joint smart city platform in their respective infrastructure development, they will be able to improve ties and speed up co-development," Moon said.
"Korea will share its experience in constructing and managing the EDC with ASEAN members and build a cooperative system."
