KOTRA expects Bangladesh to be seventh country coming under Korean Economic Innovation Partnership Program after Indonesia, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Hungary, Ecuador and Kenya
Mirsharai, strategically located within around 70km radius of an international airport and a sea port in the country’s commercial capital, Chittagong, now being developed as a national special economic zone (NSEC) has all the protentional to be turned into a seaside bayview smart city.
South Korea, having a globally demonstrated experience in developing smart cities at home and abroad, is keen to develop Mirsharai as a smart city, the first of its kind in Bangladesh.
In the presence of the housing and public works advisor of Bangladesh’s transitional government, Adilur Rahman Khan, Korean experts recently explained the enormous potential Mirsharai had and how the development of the region would eventually create an example of trade, commerce and employment opportunities as well as modern livelihoods.
The Embassy of the Republic of Korea and Korea Trade Promotion Agency (KOTRA) organized a smart city seminar in a Dhaka hotel on Tuesday, titled "Smart Innovation through Korea-Bangladesh Cooperation: Towards Sustainable Cities."
Kim Sam Soo, director general of KOTRA in Bangladesh, said it is possible to develop Mirsharai as a Korean-style smart city by 2028.
With 127 overseas trade centres, KOTRA has a presence in 84 countries and has a track record of working for trade promotion since 1962.
Adilur Rahman Khan, who is also the industries adviser, laid emphasis on strengthening economic ties with Korea for the country’s industrial development.
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) Chairman Md Siddiqur Rahman Sarker and Park Young-sik, ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Bangladesh, and Dr Adil Mohammed Khan, president of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), also addressed the seminar, among others.
Mirsharai Economic Zone
In 2018, the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) signed a memorandum of understanding. Under the MoU, BEZA allocated 1,150 acres of land to BEPZA for setting up an economic zone.
Subsequently, the erstwhile government took some other initiative, albeit overlapping the Mirsharai Economic Zone, in pursuit of developing a Bangabandhu Industrial City with the inclusion of lands spanning three upazilas: Mirsharai and Sitakunda in Chittagong and Sonagazi in Feni.
The Mirsharai Economic Zone, still under development, is 65km from Chittagong sea port, 77km from Shah Amanat International Airport and 70km from the Chittagong EPZ.
What is a smart city?
The definition of a smart city varies greatly from country to country. In general, it is a platform for improving the quality of life for citizens, enhancing the sustainability of cities and fostering new industries by utilizing the innovative technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
South Korea’s domestic smart city initiative started with the name of U-CITY (Ubiquitous City). The U-CITY project began with public initiatives centring on new cities such as Hwaseong Dongtan, Paju Unjeong, Daejeon Doan, and Songdo, Incheon, in the early 2000.
Its concept of a smart city covers a smart transport fare system, smart power grid, smart waste management and creating new opportunities for all.
The Korean government promotes the export of Korean-style smart cities to overseas cities through the K-City Network initiative. Some of the cities that have Korean-style smart city projects include Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara, the Philippines' Puerto Princesa and Cambodia's Siem Reap, among others.
KOTRA’s Kim Sam Soo expects Bangladesh to be the seventh country coming under the Korean Economic Innovation Partnership Program (EIPP) – a program launched by the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Korea in 2020 to strengthen economic cooperation between Korea and other countries.
As of 2024, the EIPP has six partner countries – Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Hungary, Ecuador and Kenya.
To highlight Mirsharai’s potential as a seaside township, Kim referred to the examples of Ulsan, which was a small coastal town in Korea in the 1960s and now boasts as the industrial powerhouse of South Korea, forming the heart of the Ulsan industrial district. It has the world's largest automobile assembly plant, operated by the Hyundai Motor Company; the world's largest shipyard, operated by Hyundai Heavy Industries; and the world's third-largest oil refinery, owned by SK Energy.
He also referred to the rise of Shenzhen – from a small coastal city in China in the 1980s to the third most populous city by urban population in China after Shanghai and Beijing and its port emerging as the world's fourth busiest container port.
Lee Changho, vice president of ESE Company, gave an overview of Korea’s smart city development cases. He gave the example of Busan.
ESE is a leading smart city solutions provider specializing in integrated control systems and urban infrastructure management.
As a part of a national project related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Busan Eco Delta Smart City was developed as a demonstrative complex for testing solutions that will be used for smart cities in the future.
Busan Eco Delta Smart City offers residents a sustainable smart lifestyle by utilizing 22 smart solutions that could meet their needs for new technology, convenience, security and safety, as well as for energy and health care. Over the course of five years, the residents will participate in sessions on operating the Living Lab to examine the smart solution, and the data gathered through this process will be used to realize the value of future housing.
Dr Md Ashikur Rahman Joarder, a professor in the Environment and Energy Division of Buet’s Department of Architecture; Hong Jongwook, branch manager at South Korea’s leading engineering firm Dohwa Engineering; and Dr Cho Young-Tae, chief of the Urban Research Division of the Land and Housing Research Institute of South Korea, also presented separate talks on different aspects of smart city and urban developments.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Reaz Ahmad
Quelle/Source: Dhaka Tribune, 19.12.2024
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