The Korean address system, known as K-Address, is set to be exported to Uzbekistan. This marks the first revenue-generating project secured by K-Address since its international expansion, excluding aid projects.
The Ministry of Interior announced on November 4 that South Korea has been selected for a technical support project worth approximately $330,000 for the establishment of a national address registry in Uzbekistan. According to the ministry, this is the first time K-Address has won a revenue-generating project abroad.
This initiative is a consulting project aimed at modernizing the legal, institutional, and technical foundations of address administration. South Korea secured the project after intense competition with several European countries.
The Uzbek government opened this project to global bids, with major European nations participating. South Korea triumphed over France, Spain, Norway, Poland, and Hungary in the final selection.
South Korea has been continuously collaborating with Uzbekistan to facilitate the international expansion of K-Address. Last year, it began a feasibility study for modernizing the local address system and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Uzbek government in September for this modernization effort. This year, it has conducted capacity-building initiatives and local training and consulting.
The Ministry of Interior plans to provide active support for the successful implementation of this project. The Uzbek State Registration Office and the lead contractor, Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation, will hold a kickoff meeting and conduct the first local survey on November 5, where they will assess the pilot project sites.
From November 22 to 28, six officials from the Uzbek State Registration Office, including the deputy director and digital address personnel, will be invited to South Korea for a 'K-Address Capacity Enhancement Training.' The training will cover South Korea's experiences in address-related legal and institutional reforms and the operation of address information management systems.
The initiative also aims to support private companies entering Uzbekistan. It will encourage participation from domestic information technology and address information utilization firms in the subsequent national address registry construction project and multilateral development bank-linked projects, while seeking to expand business opportunities for domestic companies in connection with the local address system modernization efforts.
Kim Min-jae, the Deputy Minister of Interior, stated, "Winning the project in Uzbekistan recognizes the excellence of the K-Address system on the international stage. We will continue to strengthen public-private cooperation to ensure K-Address expands as a global standard and support companies in their international ventures."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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