By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo

The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) has officially opened a regional office in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to strengthen cooperation with Central Asia in the field of smart cities.

On September 20 (local time), WeGO held the opening ceremony at Almaty City Hall and presented the office plaque to the new regional office.

The ceremony was attended by WeGO Secretary General Park Jung-sook, Seoul Metropolitan City’s Ambassador for International Relations Koo Hong-seok, Consul Choi Moon-hee from the Consulate General of Korea in Almaty, Deputy Mayor of Almaty Alisher Abdykadyrov, and Olzhas Zhanabek, the head of the Central Asia Regional Office (Director of the Almaty Digitalization Department).

WeGO aims for the regional office to strengthen the network with cities and local governments in Central Asia, creating a platform to share knowledge and best practices tailored to the region.

In her opening speech, Secretary General Park expressed her hope that "Almaty will become a hub for smart city development in Central Asia" and noted that the opening of the office symbolizes not just network expansion, but also the enhancement of cooperation with the creativity and potential of Central Asia.

Koo Hong-seok, Seoul's Ambassador for International Relations, highlighted in his congratulatory speech that the regional office, along with the bronze medal awarded in Seoul for the "Smart City Award" last year, will pave the way for an even greater role in the future. He also emphasized the potential for collaboration between Seoul and Almaty on smart city policies.

Alisher Abdykadyrov, Deputy Mayor of Almaty, welcomed the opening, stating, "We will leverage WeGO’s excellent communication platform to share smart city experiences and expertise" and expressed hopes that this would promote sustainable urban planning and development.

Almaty joined WeGO in 2020 and submitted its application for the establishment of the Central Asia Regional Office in July last year. The application was approved during WeGO’s 6th General Assembly held in Seoul in September of the same year.

The Central Asia Regional Office will focus on smart city-related projects, managed by Almaty’s Department of Digitalization and Almaty City Development Center.

WeGO’s regional offices are located in six cities worldwide, including Almaty, Chengdu (East Asia), Abuja (Africa), Beyoğlu (Mediterranean), Abu Dhabi (Middle East), and Cuenca (Latin America).