The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) sent a government delegation specialized in e-government, headed by Vice Minister Yoon Jong-in, along with other organizations including MOIS, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), the National Tax Service (NTS), the Public Procurement Service (PPS) and the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), to new northern countries, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, from March 18 through 22.

On March 19 (local time), MOIS and the National Agency of Project Management (NAPM) of Uzbekistan, which in charge of e-government, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on expanding cooperation in the field of digital government.

The Uzbekistan government launched a unit specialized in e-government in NAPM under the President in February this year, and integrated digital government-related work, which used to be dispersed in different government agencies including the Ministry of Development of Information Technologies and Communications into the unit, helping to fuel Uzbekistan’s e-government projects.

Under the MOU, the Uzbekistan government will develop a master plan on next generation e-government in collaboration with Korea, and carry out various projects on digital government such as Government Integrated Data Center, electronic approval and Smart Nation.

In addition, public officials from NTS, PPS, and the National Pension Service (NPS) had meetings with related organizations in Uzbekistan and discussed ways to foster cooperation to support Uzbekistan’s introduction of Korean e-government system in relevant areas.

The delegation then traveled to Mongolia and held a meeting on e-government cooperation with Mongolia’s Communications and Information Technology Agency (CITA).

Although receiving a bailout loan from IMF at the moment, Mongolia is one of the emerging e-government markets with the economic growth rate recovering from a sluggish 1% in 2016 to 6% in 2018.

As key activities in Mongolia, MOEL reviewed the implementation status of Mongolia’s employment information system, which is modeled on Korea’s employment service network, and KMA examined the status of automatic weather observation system.

The National Service Forensic (NSF) under MOIS introduced latest analysis techniques in the field of digital forensic and discussed how to promote capacity building in forensic science of Mongolia.

The Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation has completed the establishment of master plan on developing a deposit insurance payment system in Mongolia, and discusses how to secure financial resources for the project with its Mongolian counterparts.

Vice Minister Yoon Jong-in commented that “the dispatch of e-government caravan to new northern countries will serve as an opportunity to Korea’s digital government-related businesses, having difficulties in exploring projects abroad, to make inroads into the overseas market through expanded cooperation with the region.” “MOIS, as a central government agency in charge of e-government, will strengthen cooperation not only with governments around the world but also with relevant agencies at home, and serve as a government-wide platform for promoting the export of Korea’s e-government services and systems,” he added.