Uzbekistan opens an 11-country roadshow series supporting Korean firms The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will cooperate with 11 countries, starting with Uzbekistan, to support the overseas expansion of K-Smart City. KOTRA and MOLIT announced on April 19 that they held the ‘Uzbekistan Smart City Roadshow and Export Forum’ with 11 Korean companies on April 15. The 11 Korean companies, equipped with innovative technologies, conducted over 70 cooperation consultations with more than 40 Uzbekistani organizations and companies, including ordering bodies and influential firms, at the smart city export consultation sessions. From the Uzbek side, project managers from ordering bodies like Tashkent City and the New Tashkent Development Authority participated, along with technology companies interested in partnering with Korean firms and officials from the investment promotion agency to facilitate this. Following a forum introducing Uzbek projects and Korean technologies, serious meetings continued throughout the B2B consultation sessions and site visits to the ordering bodies. In 2020, Uzbekistan announced ‘Digital Uzbekistan 2030’ and is accelerating its national digitalization, including smart cities. Notably, it has established the New Tashkent Development Authority to modernize the capital, Tashkent, and is currently implementing the ‘New Tashkent Project’. As detailed projects related to intelligent transport systems, e-government, energy savings, and safety are being implemented in stages, Uzbek officials and technology companies also showed high interest in cooperating with Korean technology firms at this roadshow. Director Achilov from the New Tashkent Development Authority said, “The New Tashkent Project is Uzbekistan’s top priority development project, and we plan to issue detailed projects in stages until 2030. Having confirmed Korean smart city technologies and experience applicable to the project at this roadshow, we hope to receive a transfer of Korea’s smart city development and operational know-how.” GB Soft Inc., a Korean