Sarawak transport minister conducts 5-day benchmarking visit to study South Korea’s public transport system

Lee (fourth right) presents a memento to JungHee Uhm, Deputy Minister for Transport and Logistics, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), Republic of Korea as Dr Jerip (third right) and members of the Sarawak delegation and other officials look on.

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, Aug 4: Sarawak Minister of Transport Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin led a delegation on a benchmarking visit to South Korea from July 29 to Aug 2, 2024.

In a press statement today, Ministry of Transport Sarawak (MOTS) said the main purpose of the visit was to gain valuable insight and expand understanding from Seoul’s innovative approaches to the public land transport system, including their bus and urban traffic management practices, to use as a benchmark for transforming and expanding Sarawak’s public land transportation system.

During the trip, the delegation visited Seoul TOPIS (Transport Operation & Information Service) and was briefed on the operation of TOPIS to assist Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) on public transportation management, urban traffic planning, disaster and emergency management.

There, Lee had a meeting with SMG Director of Transportation Policy, Lee Jingu. Topics discussed included urban mobility, public bus information and tracking system, public transport facilities financing model and public transport subsidy models.

The delegation also visited Jungnang Public Bus Depot, one of the largest public bus depots in Seoul, where they had been briefed on the mechanism of operation and management of public bus depot, transformation of public bus from Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) bus to electric vehicle (EV) and hydrogen buses, to align with South Korea’s government policy of using green and renewable energy in public transportation to reduce carbon emission.

They also stopped by Seoul’s Smart Transportation Card T-Money head office to get a comprehensive overview of Seoul’s advanced transportation card system, which integrates cutting-edge technology to enhance urban mobility and streamline transit services.

Other places that they visited included LG Consulting, Network and System (CNS) Science Park and Hyundai Motor Goyang Studio.

Lee also extended a courtesy visit to His Excellency Dato Mohd Zamruni Khalid, Ambassador of Malaysia to the Republic of Korea and had a meeting with JungHee Uhm, Deputy Minister for Transport and Logistics, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT).

As a follow-up to the South Korean airport management team’s courtesy call on July 25, the delegation also visited the Integrated Operations Centre (IOC) at Incheon International Airport on Aug 2 before departing for Kuala Lumpur.

The Sarawak delegation included Deputy Minister for Transport Sarawak I (Aviation and Road) Datuk Dr Jerip Susil; MOTS permanent secretary Datu Wong Hee Sieng; Head of Land Transport and Logistics Division Chong Chi Fam and officers from MOTS. — DayakDaily