Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov stated that, “Korean experts played a key role in giving Uzbekistan a 20-step boost on the United Nation’s E-Government Development Index,” during a meeting on Aug. 17 in Tashkent with the Korean Minister of the Interior Hong Yun-sik. The president asked that Korea continue to walk alongside Uzbekistan as it develops its range of e-government services, and help support the implementation of Uzbekistan’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
For the past three years the two governments have jointly funded the Korea-Uzbekistan E-Government Cooperation Center, and have expanded business ventures in the sector. This year, the two founded a joint corporation and established a program in Uzbekistan with Inha University to cultivate IT specialists in collaboration with Uzbekistani authorities.
Uzbekistani President Islam Karimov (left) shakes hands with Minister of the Interior Hong Yun-sik after a meeting in Tashkent on Aug. 17.
In addition to e-government, the two countries are always expanding cooperation in the realm of public administration.
During the Korea-Uzbekistan Public Administration Forum on Aug. 17, Uzbekistan’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Rustam Azimov said that, “Today’s forum is proof of our mutually beneficial, dynamic and multilateral partnership in public administration.”
The forum, jointly organized by the Ministry of the Interior and the Uzbekistani Ministry of Finance, was attended by First Deputy Prime Minister Azimov as well as some 250 other government officials.
“Government innovation has provided the foundation of Korea’s economic development,” said Minister Hong. “I would like to use today’s forum to get a discussion going about the different experiences our two governments have had while implementing public policies in our respective countries. In doing so, I hope to further strengthen our cooperation in the public administration sector.”
On the sidelines of the Korea-Uzbekistan Public Administration Forum on Aug. 17, the National Archives of Korea and its Uzbekistani counterpart sign an MOU outlining cooperation on managing national archives.
At the forum, the Ministry of the Interior presented case studies from the National Computing and Information Service (NCIS) and from the national archives. The session also covered the Ministry of Personnel Management’s e-learning platforms for civil servants, as well as Korea Post’s mail distribution system. Topics like the Korean criminal justice system, maternal and child healthcare, protocols for the prevention of infectious diseases, intellectual property rights, electronic patent systems and university training programs were brought to the table, too, as areas in which the two countries could expand cooperation in the future.
By Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Ministry of the Interior
hlee10@korea.kr
