By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo

Mayor Choi Min-ho of Sejong Special Self-Governing City met with a delegation of high-ranking government officials, including Alexandre Marie and YOMO, the director of the National Civil Registration Agency of Cameroon, at Sejong City Hall on March 21 to discuss cooperation plans.

The visit was made at the request of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Cameroon as part of the Korea International Cooperation Agency's (KOICA) 'Invitation Training Program for the Pilot Project to Establish a Computerized Civil Registration System in Cameroon'.

This is the third visit of the Cameroonian government to Sejong City, and last year, the delegation visited the Saerom-dong Administrative Welfare Center twice to observe the operation status of the resident registration system, the issuance of resident registration cards and certificates, and the procedure for moving to another city.

Prior to the meeting, the delegation visited the Urban Integrated Information Center to hear about the current status of Sejong City's urban development and observe the urban information management operation system using intelligent city technology.

"The Cameroonian government is developing into an advanced city by building a computerized resident registration system," said Mayor Choi Min-ho. "We will strengthen cooperation with the Cameroonian government in the field of digital government to lay a foothold for building cooperation between Korea and Cameroon."

Following the meeting with Mayor Choi, the delegation of Cameroonian officials visited the Book Culture Center in City Hall and Eung Bridge, and explored ways to strengthen cooperation in cultural exchanges between Sejong City and Cameroonian local governments.

"Sejong City has developed into a world-class city in less than a decade," said Alexandre Marie, head of the National Civil Registration Agency, adding “Its urban construction story will be a great inspiration for our government's Vision 2035 industrialization plan."

Meanwhile, Cameroon, located on the Guinea coast in the center of the African continent, is a key partner of the South Korean government in Central Africa, as it is implementing its Vision 2035 plan to become an emerging industrialized nation by 2035.