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The Korea Land & Housing Corporation is using smart technology to help Kuwait's new housing, public spaces, and a whole new smart city.
BIOGRAPHY
Hanjoo Lee has been the Director General of LH's Kuwait branch since 2017. He has worked at LH for 30 years and been involved in a wide range of urban development projects from planning and construction to operation and maintenance. He graduated from Seoul National University majoring in civil engineering and received his master’s degree in soil mechanics from Imperial College in the UK. He is an expert in civil engineering and material testing. He is one of LH’s specialists for smart technology including IT and GIS.What have been the key factors that guaranteed LH's success to win the South Saad Al-Abdullah smart city project in Kuwait?
This project has two aspects, an opportunity and a challenge. I think LH and the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) of Kuwait have the same goal and as partners we are ensuring we can reach this goal together. Both organizations are pursuing the public interest by developing a new town here along with enough land and affordable public housing. We are like-minded in terms of developing a new city. It makes it much easier that we are working together in the same direction to achieve our shared goals. LH stands here not for profit. In fact, we are owned by each government and run as a non-profit entity. In this regard, our purpose is to pursue the public interest through housing welfare and to improve the quality of peoples' lives and economic growth. Construction is a very large contributor to a national economy itself, and a new town has a lot of components to it including infrastructure, housing, industry, and investments in various sectors of the economy. Many economic sectors and players can participate in the development of a new town like this. If we develop a new town we can generate a lot of economic activities. We have developed many smart cities in Korea, but this project is the first global smart city that LH will develop outside Korea. This project will be an expanded version of our smart city concept in Korea and also, we are cooperating with PAHW to create this new model. In other words, it is a global smart city model that will be localized as well, rather than a typical Kuwaiti city with smart technology or a simply implemented Korean smart city in Kuwait. Therefore, this project is a good opportunity to come up with a new model for smart cities.
In what ways is LH sharing its knowledge with Kuwaiti companies regarding sustainable construction and sustainable housing projects?
We expect this project to be mutually beneficial from a knowledge transfer standpoint. We are going to learn from Kuwaitis and Kuwaitis can learn from us. In order to succeed in the SSAC project, the support of local companies will be indispensable. They will provide us with the local studies regarding procedures and legislation, since every official document is written in Arabic. LH will then bring all the necessary technology for this project. Kuwait's government carried out the new town project on their own finance. For this reason, we are interested in joint-investment for this project and establishing a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with the purpose of making a joint venture.
What is your level of confidence about Kuwait's business opportunities?
We are pretty confident regarding this project and we know that we have established a strong relationship with the Kuwaiti government through PAHW. The organization has been extremely helpful in helping us gain confidence within this new market. It's looking forward to this partnership and strongly believes in this project. We will ensure the delivery of a highly successful project that will benefit Kuwaiti society.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Interview
Adel Abdul Wahab Al-Majed , Chairman, Kuwait Banking Association (KBA)
Through a broad array of information, specialized committees, staff expertise, and other resources, KBA supports Kuwait's banks as they perform their critical role in energizing the economy and helping communities thrive.
read articleInterview
Sheikh Dr. Meshaal Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, Director General, Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA)
KDIPA adopts a proactive approach to attract value-added direct investments supported by an integrated promotional strategy serving Kuwait's developmental goals in line with its National Vision 2035.
read articleCommuniqué
Legal Reform and Infrastructure Projects Spell Opportunity for Foreign Investors
Along with the introduction and modernization of new laws and regulations, the vision of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to transform Kuwait into an international center for commerce and industry by 2035 is already being implemented through Kuwait's National Development Plan. Coupled with the promulgation of progressive FDI regulations, these new opportunities spell positive news for foreign companies looking to conduct business in Kuwait.
read articleFocus: Developing connectivity
Connecting the Dots
Today, connectivity is hardly indispensible for individuals and the companies where they work. Kuwait's smart cities, considered elsewhere in the book, will thrive on it, and meanwhile the nation continues to register notable business deals from the informatics sector.
read articleInterview
Khalid Abbas , Country Manager-Kuwait, Unilever
Contributing to the improved health and wellbeing of communities and reducing environmental footprint are key priorities for Unilever, which is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of up to 1 billion people globally by 2020.
read articleInterview
Mohammed Yousif Soud Al-Sabah , Board Chairman & Director, Public Authority of Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR)
PAAAFR has adapted a package of policies to face challenges inherent to deserts, hot climate, and water scarcity, bringing Kuwait closer to achieving national food security, one step at a time.
read articleInterview
Yang Chunsen, Vice President/ Chief Representative, China State Construction Engineering Corporation Middle East (CSCME) Kuwait
CSCME is a technology-driven company that leverages its R&D and long-standing partnership with the government to increase its participation in the future development of Kuwait.
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