Minister Park Sang-woo of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Meets with Czech Minister of Transport
Expanding Korea-Czech Cooperation in Transport and Infrastructure
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Park Sang-woo (left) and Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic Martin Kupka (right)
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it has signed two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with the Czech Ministry of Transport for cooperation on high-speed rail and Ukraine reconstruction.
Park Sang-woo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who is accompanying President Yoon Suk-yeol on his official visit to the Czech Republic, met with Martin Kupka, Czech Minister of Transport, on the 20th (local time) and signed the MOUs in the presence of President Yoon and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
Minister Park stated, "We are well aware of the Czech government's strong commitment to advancing high-speed rail projects linked to the European rail network," and proposed, "Let us strengthen the sharing of experience and technical cooperation across all areas including design, construction, operation, and financing."
Minister Park explained Korea’s high-speed rail, which has accumulated 20 years of experience and know-how since its first opening in 2004, and also mentioned Korea’s experience with public-private partnership (PPP) railway projects.
The railway cooperation MOU signed between the two ministries on this day aims to support the advancement of Czech high-speed rail projects and the entry of Korean companies into the Czech high-speed rail market.
The two countries plan to build a cooperative relationship through exchanges of policies, laws, and technical standards specialized in the high-speed rail sector, technical cooperation on high-speed rail project planning, construction, operation, and maintenance, as well as holding railway cooperation meetings.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation with the Czech Ministry of Transport regarding Ukraine reconstruction. Through working-level meetings involving governments, institutions, and private companies from both countries, they will support the discovery and implementation of joint projects in transportation infrastructure sectors such as railways and airports.
Minister Kupka explained that the Czech Republic "maintains a friendly relationship with Ukraine based on hosting Ukrainian refugees and linguistic affinity," and added, "Czechia can serve as a ‘bridge’ for Korea’s entry into the Ukraine reconstruction market."
Based on this shared understanding, the Ukraine reconstruction cooperation MOU signed will support information sharing and exchanges for joint projects between companies of both countries in fields such as roads, railways, aviation, mobility, smart cities, logistics, and infrastructure construction.
Minister Park stated, “Since Czechia is expected to be an excellent partner for Korean companies pursuing participation in Ukraine reconstruction projects, we will continue to concretize cooperation plans through working-level meetings with the Czech Ministry of Transport.”
The two ministers also agreed to promote the expansion of direct flights between Korea and Czechia to support increased human and material exchanges and tourism activation, which will grow following nuclear power cooperation. The two countries had agreed in an aviation consultation last July to increase the bilateral traffic rights from four times a week to seven times a week for the first time in 26 years.
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