WeGO Secretariat engages with city government leaders during the World Cities Summit 2022

August 1, 2022

Seoul –The WeGO Secretariat, represented by the Secretary General, Ms. Jung Sook Park, the Head of Program Department, Ms. Eunbyul Cho, and the Asian Regional Partnership Lead, Mr. Lii Inn Tan, conducted bilateral meetings with several city governments during the World Cities Summit 2022 in Singapore.

WeGO had its first bilateral meeting with the delegation from Seberang Perai City Council, led by Mayor Dato’ Azhar bin Haji Arshad. As Seberang Perai is the Vice President City of WeGO, it was the Secretariat’s pleasure to discuss the next collaboration direction with the Mayor of Seberang Perai. Several topics were discussed during the meeting, including but not limited to Smart Waste Management, Smart Transportation and Traffic Management, and Smart Flooding Alert System. As the Vice President City of WeGO, Seberang Perai has been invited to deliver the Congratulatory Remarks for the Solution Meets Cities webinar, to be held on September 1. 

Furthermore, WeGO conducted the second bilateral meeting with the Johor Bahru City Council. WeGO extended its sincere appreciation to the Mayor of Johor Bahru, Dato’ Haji Mohd Noorazam bin Dato’ Haji Osman, for inviting delegates from Pasir Gudang City Council to join the meeting. The Mayor of Johor Bahru shared the vital role played by the city, especially in terms of facilitating the flow of passage between Malaysia and Singapore. He also highlighted that different cities in Johor have different systems, such as parking systems, and thus, underlined the importance of the city’s partnership with Pasir Gudang and Iskandar Puteri in order to synergize and integrate its systems and solutions. The Mayor of Johor Bahru further pointed out the significance of the “people” element in Public-Private-People Partnership (PPPP) by addressing “how to create smart humans?”. In this respect, WeGO welcomes the Johor Bahru City Council to join WeGO for more member benefits. 

In addition, WeGO had the opportunity to meet with the Kota Kinabalu City Hall, which was led by the Director General, Junainah Abbie. Among the main issues that were emphasized by Kota Kinabalu City Hall was the illegal squatters, which caused vandalism and several social issues in Kota Kinabalu. Consequently, safety and security are the main concerns in Kota Kinabalu and have to be dealt with by the Kota Kinabalu City Hall. To gain more benefits from WeGO, Kota Kinabalu City Hall is welcome to further explore the opportunity of joining WeGO. 

Last but not least, WeGO received the chance to meet with Dhaka South City Corporation with the presence of the Mayor, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh. As traffic management is one of the main areas of interest for the city, the Secretary General of WeGO also invited the Mayor to join the Solution Meets Cities webinar to further explore solutions in addressing its challenges. Due to the fact that the Mayor is interested in raising the ranking of the city in the world, it is the quintessential time for WeGO to re-engage with Dhaka South City Corporation.

About WeGO

The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO), established by 50 founding members in 2010, is an international association of city and other local governments, smart tech solution providers, and national and regional institutions committed to the transformation of cities into smart sustainable cities WeGO’s Secretariat is based in Seoul and supported by regional offices in Africa (Abuja, Nigeria), East Asia (Chengdu, China), Eurasia (Ulyanovsk Region, Russia), the Mediterranean (Beyoğlu, Turkey), and Latin America (Mexico City, Mexico).

WeGO has more than 200 members around the world and serves as their international platform to improve the quality of life, innovate in the delivery of public services, and strengthen regional competitiveness.

Media Contact:
Name: Eunji Park
E-mail: eunji@we-gov.org
Phone: 02-720-2935