161012_smartcity_art1.jpg

Government officials from eight different countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Nigeria and Rwanda, take a look at some solar panels installed on the rooftop of a the Green Building in Seoul on Oct. 11. They are in Korea as part of a training program run by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Korea’s expertise in designing and building smart city infrastructure is being shared with developing countries from around the world.

A series of training programs, organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, has been introducing Korea’s new city development projects to foreign government officials, giving them an overview of the country’s housing, transportation, water management and railway systems.

On Oct. 10, a group of 15 government officials from eight countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Nigeria, Rwanda, the Dominican Republic, Zimbabwe, Mongolia and the Philippines, arrived in Korea to participate in the program. They were joined by officials from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The training session consists of lectures on the development of satellite cities, transportation, railways and airports, and is followed by a number of on-site visits. As part of the “K-smart city tour program,” the participants got a chance to visit Seoul’s official Green Building, as well as Pangyo City, Gwacheon’s water management facility and Anyang’s transport management center. Through these visits, the foreign government officials were able to experience first-hand Korea’s tech-driven transport systems, its environmentally-conscious water management plants and some of its zero-emission buildings.

161012_smartcity_art2.jpg

Government officials and reps from the Inter-American and African Development banks, in Korea for a training program, pose for a group picture in the lobby of Seoul’s Green Building on Oct. 11.

This past year alone, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport invited 89 foreign officials from 34 different countries to participate in similar training sessions. Thanks to these exchanges, the Korean way of building new cities is being adopted by its overseas partners. Nepal, after participating in the training session at the beginning of this year, reached out to the Korea Rail Network Authority to construct a high-speed electric railroad there, a project estimated at around KRW 9.9 billion.

By Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
hlee10@korea.kr