The Ministry of Public Administration and Security (MOPAS) held a working-group meeting titled “Open and Innovative Government,” during the 8th MENA-OECD* Meeting held in Paris on October 29-30, 2012 with an aim to support the advancement of public governance in Middle East and North African countries.
* MENA-OECD (Middle East and North Africa-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) Meeting
As a co-chair of the Working Group on Open and Innovative Government, one of the main programmes conducted by OECD in the MENA region, Korea hosts this year’s working group meeting following the 7th meeting that took place in Seoul on November 28-29, 2011.
At the Paris Meeting, e-government leaders from 19 MENA countries and 34 OECD member states gather together to share thoughts and experiences under the theme of “The way forward: concrete actions for Open and Innovative Government.”
The theme of the meeting, the advancement of public governance, was timely and important for MENA countries, which are in a transitional period of national development.
The Paris Meeting, following the previous year’s Seoul Meeting, was regarded as an opportunity to discuss specific action plans and measures that can be substantially helpful for MENA countries to develop public governance.
1st Vice Minister of Public Administration and Security Seo Pil-eon delivered an opening speech at the meeting. In his remarks, Vice Minister Seo noted that “Korea will actively support MENA countries to establish effective public governance as well as open and innovative government.” “To this end, we are willing to share our experience and know-how and closely work together with the global community,” he added.
The Paris Meeting will serve as an opportunity to promote Korea’s e-government and public administration best practices, which are widely recognized throughout the world by ranking top in UN E-Government Survey for two consecutive times and winning UN Public Service Award, to countries in the region.
Moreover, the meeting will be a chance for the Korean government to bolster strategic partnership and cooperation with these resource-rich MENA countries by helping them achieve open government in the region.
