KOTRA Holds 'Han-Thai Smart City Day' Event Locally

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] KOTRA, together with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND), and the Thailand Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA), held the 'Korea-Thailand Smart City Day' event on the 16th in Bangkok, Thailand.

This event was held as a follow-up to the smart city cooperation memorandum of understanding signed last year between the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. Led by KOTRA and the Thailand Digital Economy Promotion Agency, about 200 participants from 13 local governments, related institutions, and companies from Korea and Thailand attended.

The event was organized to expand smart city cooperation between the two countries in response to local interest. It consisted of various programs including ▲ Korea-Thailand Smart City Webinar ▲ Online consultation meetings ▲ Operation of company promotion booths and a smart city construction case exhibition roadshow.

KOTRA held the 'Korea-Thailand Smart City Day' event in Bangkok, Thailand on the 16th. Thai buyers are conducting business consultations online with Korean companies locally. Photo by KOTRA

Thailand, aspiring for economic advancement through the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is showing great interest in and actively promoting smart city construction. Since 2018, Thailand has designated seven pilot cities including Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai to introduce various smart city solutions. The Thai government plans to increase the number of pilot cities to 100 by 2022.

Amid this, the Korean-style smart city is gaining attention in Thailand. Compared to competitors such as Japan and China, Thailand is more proactive in cooperating with Korea. Korea possesses excellent information and communication technology (ICT) as well as diverse experience in smart city construction, including new town development and existing city regeneration projects.

Supakon Sitdihichai, Deputy Director of the Thailand Digital Economy Promotion Agency and a speaker at the seminar, said, "Korea is a key smart city cooperation partner for Thailand, possessing digital technology capabilities and abundant urban construction experience," adding, "It is necessary to develop a cooperation model that allows mutual growth between the two countries beyond simple solution transactions."

Kim Hyuntae, Head of KOTRA Bangkok Trade Center, said, "By combining Thailand’s will for 'digital transformation' with Korea’s technology and experience, we can accelerate the construction of smart cities locally," and added, "We will support Korean companies’ entry into the Thai smart city market by utilizing the 'Smart City Cooperation Center' opened this year."

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