A Korean construction consortium is soon to take on a new city construction project in Kuwait, a nation that has been suffering from a shortage of adequate housing.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kang Hoin and Kuwait's Minister of State for Housing Affairs Yasser Hassan Abul signed a memorandum of understanding on May 9 covering the construction of a new urban development project near the Kuwaiti capital.

The new construction project has been discussed since March last year when President Park Geun-hye visited Kuwait. The Kuwaiti government requested that the president push for collaboration on developing and managing the new city, eventually to help ease housing pressures in the nation.

"This joint project to develop a new city, initially brought to the fore during the president's visit to Kuwait last year, has finally come to fruition through continuous bilateral collaboration. I'm very pleased with this achievement," said Minister Kang.

The minister said that he hopes Korea's experience of urban planning, which made use of domestic ICT and "smart city" technologies, would be well-applied to the new Kuwaiti city, and that it would eventually help ease housing problems across the Middle East nation.

By Chang Iou-chung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photo: Office for Government Policy Coordination
icchang@korea.kr