1. In a continued effort to create administrative Hallyu (Korean Wave) with the e-government system of the Republic of Korea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, announced on November 20 that it had sent to Indonesia, Peru and Chile delegations to seek new e-government markets. The delegations comprised of officials of the government and public organizations as well as IT companies are visiting those countries from November 15 through 22.

2. One of the two delegations was sent to Indonesia, with the other to the South American countries of Peru and Chile. In those countries, they held e-government collaboration forums to share their respective e-government strategies as well as the ROK’s experience in setting up an e-government system.

◦ The forums, held with key government policy-makers of those countries who will decide whether to introduce and use an e-government system, served as opportunities to help the countries be better informed about the ROK’s e-government system as well as the ROK’s experience in building its advanced system and relevant achievements.

3. At the forum held in Jakarta on November 20, Indonesia’s Minister of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform noted that by benchmarking the ROK’s successful e-government system, the Indonesian government will raise its transparency and efficiency.

◦ Indonesia has been an export destination of the integrated financial management system and the patent system developed by Korean IT companies. In addition, the ROK government concluded a memorandum of understanding on e-government cooperation with Indonesia, whose President Joko Widodo has expressed keen interest in the ROK’s e-government system.

4. In particular, at the forum in Indonesia was presented the outcome of the in-depth research conducted by the advance research team from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The research sought efficient ways to implement the envisioned ROK-Indonesia e-government consulting project worth approximately eight million US dollars, the KOICA’s key official development assistance (ODA) project to be carried out in Indonesia.

5. E-government collaboration forums also took place in Chile and Peru on November 18 and 20, respectively.

◦ The ROK delegation visited Chile from November 16 through 18 to hold a bilateral e-government collaboration forum and meet with officials of the presidential office, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Security, and the Ministry of Health, enhancing understanding on each other countries’ e-government policy and discussing ways to expand bilateral cooperation in the field.

6. During its visit to Peru on November 19 and 20, the delegation met with relevant officials of the Ministry of the Interior, the Immigration Office and the National Office for Electronic Government and Information and held an e-government collaboration forum on November 20 to explain the ROK’s e-government policy and discuss ways to work together in the field.

7. The ROK, which has topped the UN e-government ranking for the last three consecutive years, has been seeing a sharp increase in requests from other countries to share its experience in building the system. The dispatch of the delegations and the KOICA’s advance research team is expected to serve as an opportunity to further boost cooperation with the Latin American countries and Indonesia in the field of e-government. 


                Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation