Korea water delegation heads to Kazakhstan to turn pilot projects into export deals

The environment ministry said Monday it is sending a public-private water industry delegation to Kazakhstan this week, joined by nine Korean water companies seeking to convert pilot projects into hardware purchases and exports.

The delegation, organized with the foreign ministry, will be in Astana from Oct. 19 to 21. It includes the Korea Water Resources Corporation, the Korea Environment Corporation and the nine companies.

The ministry said the focus is on negotiating concrete purchase and commercialization prospects for products already demonstrated locally and on linking existing cooperation projects to actual export results. Seoul and Astana have run joint demonstrations of Korean water treatment equipment and flow meters and signed a memorandum of understanding on smart water management using digital twin technology.

On the first day, the delegation is scheduled to hold a roundtable with Kazakhstan's water resources and irrigation ministry, its water resources committee and the operator of Astana's water and sewage systems, sharing local water management policy and technology demand and presenting Korean companies' technology. Meetings with officials from the Astana water and sewage operator are planned through Oct. 21 to discuss introducing Korean technology and the possibility of product purchases. The delegation will also visit Nazarbayev University, founded in the capital in 2010 and named for Kazakhstan's first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to explore joint research and technology demonstrations in water quality and drinking and wastewater treatment.

The two ministries said they will keep working to match Kazakhstan's water management demand with Korean companies' technology.