Jeon Hae-cheol Visits Tunisian President... Joint Hosting of Digital Government Cooperation Forum

Establishing Administrative Hallyu Hubs in the Middle East and North Africa

Minister of the Interior and Safety Jeon Hae-cheol is having a meeting and conversation with President Kais Saied at the Presidential Palace in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, on the 28th (local time).

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Jeon Hae-cheol, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, visited Tunisia from the 27th to the 29th to secure a foothold for the expansion of administrative Hallyu in the Middle East and Africa region and to further develop digital government cooperation with Tunisia.

On the morning of the 28th, Minister Jeon paid a courtesy call on Kais Saied, President of Tunisia, to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in public administration, including digital government. Tunisia has successfully introduced and operated an electronic procurement system modeled after Korea’s ‘Nara Marketplace,’ and since 2020, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Tunisian Prime Minister’s Office have jointly operated the ‘Korea-Tunisia Digital Government Cooperation Center.’ Both countries agreed to discover specific cooperative projects and expand practical cooperation for transparent and efficient government operations utilizing digital government. The Tunisian president expressed interest in the development of democracy based on citizen participation, such as ‘Gwanghwamun 1st Street.’

Following the visit to President Kais Saied, Minister Jeon met with Najla Bouden Romdhane, Prime Minister of Tunisia, on the same afternoon to discuss development plans for the Korea-Tunisia Digital Government Cooperation Center and joint entry strategies into the digital government markets of neighboring Middle Eastern and North African regions. He also met with Taoufik Charfeddine, Minister of the Interior of Tunisia, to explore ways to strengthen local government capabilities and cooperation in public safety.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has successfully promoted various joint cooperation projects with the Tunisian government through the Digital Government Cooperation Center. This year, in particular, projects such as feasibility studies for intelligent transportation systems, establishment of government accounting audit monitoring systems, and evaluation and improvement plans for government online services are underway.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Jeon Hae-cheol attended the "Korea-Tunisia Digital Government Cooperation Forum" held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, on the 28th (local time), and took a commemorative photo with Nejla Ben Neji, Minister of Communication Technologies of Tunisia.

Meanwhile, the ‘Public Administration Cooperation Group,’ led by Minister Jeon and visiting Tunisia together, jointly held the ‘Korea-Tunisia Digital Government Cooperation Forum’ with the Tunisian government, attended by digital government officials from both countries, including Nizar Ben Neji, Minister of Communications Technology of Tunisia. At this forum, the Tunisian side presented the current status of local digital government initiatives in Tunisia, while the Korean side introduced excellent Korean digital government cases of great interest to Tunisia, such as the People’s Petition System, government data centers, intelligent transportation systems, and shared use of administrative information.

Minister Jeon said, “Tunisia is a strategic cooperation hub for spreading Korea’s excellent administrative cases to the Middle East and North Africa region,” adding, “We will strengthen practical cooperation so that the successful cooperation model between the two countries, represented by digital government, can be expanded to the entire public administration sector.”

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