LH Signs MOU for Smart City Development on Peru Cusco International Airport Site

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) is embarking on the development of a smart city in Cuzco, Peru.

On the 27th, LH announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the city of Cuzco and the Cuzco 'Alejandro Velasco Astete' International Airport site for smart city development and overall cooperation on Cuzco city development projects.

Cuzco city plans to develop a smart city on the existing airport site of 1.25㎢, as the function of Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport, the gateway to the world-famous tourist destination Machu Picchu, will be relocated to the newly constructed Chinchero International Airport nearby by 2025.

Cuzco is a world-renowned tourist city visited by over 4 million tourists annually, with a high floating population. With an urbanization rate of 98%, there is a shortage of land available for development, leading to high development pressure, and approximately 20,000 households are lacking housing. The site is located in the very center of the city, with surrounding infrastructure already established, and since the entire site is national and public land, the project risk is expected to be low.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport selected the Cuzco airport site smart city basic plan project as part of the 'K-City Network Global Cooperation Program' in April, and currently, the basic planning service jointly commissioned by LH and the Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND) is underway.

This agreement was signed to practically promote the smart city development project led by LH. According to the agreement, LH and Cuzco city will cooperate on the smart city development of the Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport site and establish a cooperative relationship for discovering and jointly promoting future development projects in Cuzco city. In particular, since the project management of the new Chinchero International Airport, being constructed as an alternative airport, is being carried out by a consortium led by Korea Airports Corporation (KAC), LH's participation in the Cuzco smart city development project is expected to serve as a catalyst for expanding Korean companies' entry into Peru.

The signing ceremony was conducted via a dual live broadcast online video system between Korea and Peru due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Byun Chang-hoom, President of LH, said, "This agreement provides a foundation for entering the Peruvian market by discovering cooperation projects in urban and housing development in Peru," adding, "We will further expand opportunities to enter the Central and South American markets by establishing cooperative relationships with other Latin American countries."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.