The Korean government is set to participate in Sri Lanka’s $63.2 billion smart city development project, Seoul’s Ministry of Land announced Tuesday.
The project is part of Sri Lanka’s plan to develop nine new towns in Colombo and its adjacent areas by 2030.
The Land Ministry said Minister Kang Ho-in and Sri Lanka’s Megapolis Minister Champika Ranawaka inked a memorandum of understanding in Seoul on Tuesday for the partnership of the new city project.
“We believe Korea’s experiences in developing smart cities will greatly contribute to Sri Lanka’s new city development,” Kang said.
The Korean government plans to share its expertise in smart water management, intelligent transport systems and smart home systems such as home automation and digital parking systems.
Sri Lanka’s new plans include the development of nine new cities including one near an airport and others specialized in science technology, industries, tourism and logistics. Among them, the Korean government will take part in the development of two cities – the science technology-based Malabe and the Katunayake airport zone.
“We plan to map out a master plan for the city project in 2017 and select some Korean companies to be involved in the project the following year,” Kim Bo-min, a ministry official, told The Korea Herald by phone.
Currently, around 10 local companies expressed interests in participating in the project, the government said. They include the Korea Expressway Corporation, the Korea Land & Housing Corp., Hyundai Engineering & Construction, POSCO Engineering & Construction and Samsung C&T.
The latest partnership began as Korea has maintained a close relationship with Sri Lanka by providing city consulting services for half a year through its global city development support center, the ministry’s official said.
By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)
