ASEAN-Korea Ministerial Roundtable came to a close, laying the foundation for collaborative cooperation

The 2019 ASEAN-ROK Ministerial Roundtable on Public Service Innovation came to a close on November 26. The roundtable brought together public administration ministers from Korea and 10 ASEAN countries to share best practices and the way forwards on public service innovation.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS, Minister Chin Young) held the ASEAN-ROK Ministerial Roundtable on Public Service Innovation from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on November 26 in BEXCO Exhibition Hall 2, Busan. The roundtable was one of the official side events to the 2019 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit which took place on November 25-26 in Busan to celebrate the 30th anniversary of establishing the ASEAN-ROK dialogue partnership.

About 150 participants including public administration ministers from Korea and ASEAN, including Minister Tjahjo Kumolo of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform of Indonesia, Minister Khammanh Sounvileuth of Home Affairs of Laos, the delegations of ASEAN countries and ASEAN public officials under training in Korea gathered together at the roundtable.

Under the theme of “Building better governance: bringing better future for all,” the roundtable consisted of presentations and free discussions on three topics of citizen engagement, digital government and regional development.

In Session 1 on citizen engagement, participants shared each country’s efforts to achieve government innovation through public participation in policy-making process by enhancing public participation and expanding government-citizen communication channels. Indonesia introduced its civil affairs handling system called “SP4N-LAPOR” which helped raise people’s trust in government by properly managing and handling public opinions.

In Session 2 on digital technologies and public services, Singapore and Malaysia gave presentations on digital technologies and ICT project in the public sector. And, the Personal Information Protection Committee delivered a presentation on Korea’s public data use and personal data protection in the era of 4th Industrial Revolution.

In Session 3 on regional development, Minister Chin Young made a presentation titled “Strategies to Revitalize Regions with Autonomy & Decentralization, Balanced Development and Regional Innovation.” Minister Chin suggested ways to improve the autonomy and decentralization as the breakthrough to address many challenges such as sluggish economic growth, population outflow into the metropolitan areas and the risk of regional extinction.

MOIS assessed that the meeting contributed to laying the foundation for cooperation to implement the Korean government’s New Southern Policy with guiding principles of three Ps (People, Prosperity, and Peace). And, the ministry explained that the events helped bring about a consensus on mutual cooperation in the field of public administration by sharing Korea’s best practices on public administration and ASEAN’s innovative cases on public services.

MOIS expects that amicable relations with ASEAN countries will be further enhanced through the three bilateral meetings between Minister Chin Young and his counterparts of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia on November 25.

In his closing remarks, Minister Chin Young said that “I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all the participants for sharing experiences and good practices on administrative innovation and exchanging insightful thoughts to foster mutual cooperation and development.” “Let us further strengthen cooperation and exchanges in the area of public administration between Korea and ASEAN,” he also noted.

The ASEAN-ROK Exhibition on Public Service Innovation was held from November 25 through 27. The exhibition was composed of the Public Service Innovation Pavilion and the ASEAN Pavilion that featured cooperation cases and innovative cases on public administration of not only Korea but also 10 ASEAN countries.

The Public Service Innovation Pavilion showcased Korea’s key administrative innovation cases using new technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution such as 5G-based disaster management system of KT, IoT-based intelligent transport system of Busan, e-customs system and automated border control system.

The ASEAN Pavilion features innovative cases on public administration of the 10 ASEAN countries including Thailand’s online Biz Portal, Indonesia’s public service complaints management platform and Myanmar’s public service reform policies together with the people, adding more significance to win-win development and cooperation of Korea and ASEAN.