K-Smart City Technology has the Key to Solve Global Urban Issues
- Thailand·Türkiye Smart City Roadshow Held Successfully -
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT, Minister WON Hee-ryong) announced that it has held Smart City Roadshows in Bangkok, Thailand (6~7 Oct.) and Istanbul, Türkiye (10~11 Oct.) together with the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Smart City Association to support overseas exports of promising Korean SMEs in the smart city area and to discover demands for international cooperation.
Thailand and Türkiye are nations that are very interested in responding to urban problems such as traffic congestion, environment, and energy, etc. and disaster situations including floods, earthquakes, etc. while actively promoting smart city developments to solve the issues.
In Thailand, around 50 provinces are being planned for construction of smart cities in addition to the seven national smart city pilot areas that include Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai, etc. and Türkiye is also promoting the construction and pilot operation of Smart City Infrastructure in seven cities including Istanbul, Ankara, and Bursa, etc. In order to support the Korean companies to participate them, the MOLIT is operating Smart City Cooperation Centers (KOTRA’s Trade Offices in Danang∙Riyadh∙Bangkok∙Istanbul∙Jakarta).
These roadshows are events for Korean companies that possess Smart City technology needed in the cities to introduce smart solutions to local cities and companies and to seek for export opportunities by analyzing, in advance, the smart city demands of Thailand and Türkiye. They consisted of seminars, 1:1 consultation meetings, and interviews with major customers.
The Smart City Roadshow held at the Bangkok Conrad Hotel in Thailand for two days from the Oct. 6th was hosted in cooperation with the Digital Economic Promotion Agency of Thailand as a part of the "Korea-Thailand Economic Cooperation Forum."
From Thailand, Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary General of Thailand Board of Investment, Passakon Prathombutr, Vice President of Digital Economy Promotion Agency, as well as key local government figures participated and for the Korean side, including Moon Seung-hyun, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Thailand, Yoon Young-jun, Director of Urban Economy Division in MOLIT, along with entrepreneurs etc. around 200 persons attended in total.
At the ‘Korea-Thailand Smart City Cooperation Seminar,’ where officials from the key government and ordering organizations of Thailand served as speakers, various projects for smart mobility, electric cars, and smart homes, etc. were introduced and recognitions and investments from the Korean government and corporations were requested. The introduced cases of smart security and health care cooperation between the two nations as well as the IR (Investor Relation) by Korean corporations attracted great attention from the audience.
At the 1:1 consultation meetings held in the morning and afternoon of Oct. 7th, local governments and about 26 local companies from Thailand and 12 Korean companies with excellent technologies including SMEs participated. This resulted in about 80 consultation sessions about the ways to participate in the local Smart City projects.
Results to be the first steps for future exports were achieved including four cases of technical cooperation MOUs related to smart parking controls and the IoT (Internet of Things) based disaster response systems. Through the signing of the business cooperation MOU between the Smart City Association of Korea and the IoT Association of Thailand, it is expected that exchanges and cooperation between the private sectors from both nations will be further enhanced.
At the Türkiye Roadshow, which was held at the Marmara Hotel in Istanbul, Turkiye, 150 persons including Fatima Sahin, Chairperson of the Local Government Alliance, Mayor of Gaziantep, key local government officials, and private companies participated. For the Korean side, the MOLIT, KOTRA, Korea Land and Housing Corporation, Smart City Association, and seven Korean SMEs were attended.
At the “Korea-Türkiye Smart City Cooperation Seminar” that was held on the morning of Oct. 10th, the conditions for entering the smart city market and major projects of Türkiye were introduced. Smart solutions such as smart city development cases, disaster prevention systems, security detection sensors, etc. by Korea were then introduced and attracted great interest from the participants.
At the 1:1 consultation meetings that were held in the afternoon, about 70 consultation sessions were hosted between 50 local governments and local companies of Türkiye and our participating companies concerning technical cooperation for the local Smart City projects, and two business agreements including technical cooperation for the IoT based disaster response system and so forth were signed.
The MOLIT participated in this event appealed cooperation for Korean companies with excellent technologies to participate in the local Smart City projects through bilateral face-to-face talks with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Social Affairs of Thailand and Gaziantep City of Türkiye, additionally asking for active support from the local governments in regard to Busan City of S. Korea to host the World EXPO 2030.
Meanwhile, the MOLIT has supported the planning for Smart City integration platforms in Khon Kaen of Thailand and Gaziantep of Türkiye through the "K-City Network Cooperation Project" which supports Smart City development in overseas cities based on experience in Smart City development.
GIL Byung-woo, Director General of Urban Policy in MOLIT, emphasized "The excellent Smart City technology of Korea has been receiving huge recognition from all over the world. In order for this interest to lead to actual export results, we need to take strategic approaches by presenting customized solutions that fit the conditions of overseas sites and by transferring our experience and knowledge together."
D.G. GIL also disclosed that “These roadshows are significant as mutual win-win events that provide new export opportunities for our companies and help the local cities solve their immediate problems and the MOLIT will expand international cooperation in the field of Smart City to build the foundation for the overseas expansion of our companies.”
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