Korea shares e-government system expertise overseas

By eGovInnovation Editors | Mar 10, 2011

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SEOUL -- The Korean government website reported that countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa, Europe and Latin America are now sending high-profile government officials to Korea to learn about the country's e-government system.

"Hallyu, or the Korean wave, doesn't just apply to K-pop, movies and TV dramas. Its influence now reaches into e-government, backed by advanced IT development," the report said. "Korea has also made significant efforts to penetrate overseas markets with its e-government system products, including e-customs and e-procurement systems. Korean IT enterprises are also working hard creating products to enter overseas markets in support of e-government exports."

The website cited that Korea has built an e-customs system in Ecuador, an e-patent system in Indonesia, a state IT network in Bangladeshi, an e-tax system in Sri Lanka and an e-government administration system in Mali.

Moreover, Korea's Public Administration Ministry said "more than 3,000 public officers from 118 countries around the world, including Vietnam, Egypt, Iraq, Mexico, Russia, Romania, have visited Korea to learn about the e-government system and to receive related IT training at the National Information Society Agency since 1998."

The ministry added that "the export volume of Korea's e-government system has increased two-fold since 2007, when it reached $9.87 million."
 
The website also reported that last year alone the ministry signed memoranda of understanding with Brunei and Bulgaria and has been operating joint cooperation projects with Vietnam, Bulgaria and Kuwait by holding IT cooperation.