[Korea.net News, Science / Tech, February 10 2008] Seoul supports IT development in Paraguay

Korea’s effort to help build advanced technological infrastructure in Paraguay is expanding as exchange between the two countries is growing.

Korea and Paraguay have been close partners and collaborators in international relations and trade since they opened diplomatic relations in 1962.

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The support increased not only in its size but in its content. A fourth of Korea’s support to the nation goes to telecommunication and IT development whereas in the past, most of the support was directed at modernizing its social infrastructure and government facilities.

Last year, the two countries expanded their cooperation in telecommunication, energy and administrative system development. Korea’s e-government system, in particular, is largely benefiting the Paraguayan government as it has completed the basic stage of e-government system.

As a result, Asuncion International Airport is now equipped with high-tech customs clearance facilities, such as electric passport readers, ID verification systems and fingerprint verification systems through computer networks. The systems, a project of $650,000, are considered to have facilitated the country’s immigration controls, thus moving its status closer to that of fast-growing emerging economies.

Korea’s advanced technology in IT infrastructure is also helping the country to get rid of the image of being the least developed South American country in terms of internet use. The KOICA has dispatched 37 volunteers to provide education on Internet usage and telecommunication in the last 12 years. Computer instructors dispatched to local secondary schools have encouraged students to improve their proficiency by hosting computer contests.