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Korea's smart road management system makes foray into Peru
Peru's Minister of Transport and Communication Aldo Martin Prieto Barrera, front row center, and Korean Ambassador to Peru Choi Jong-uk, front row second from left, pose at the Peruvian ministry's office in Lima, Thursday (local time), after the Peruvian government selected Korea's master plan for smart road management system as its legally mandated national plan. Courtesy of Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
By Ko Dong-hwan
Intelligent transport systems to cover Pan-American Highway
Korea’s smart road management system has become Peru’s official project for domestic deployment, opening ways for Korean firms to expand its market to the South American nation.
The Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Sunday the Peruvian government on Thursday (local time) selected a master plan for a 1,560-kilometer segment of the Pan-American Highway connecting Trujillo and Arequipa as a legally mandated national plan. The master plan was proposed by the International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK), a nonprofit think tank for private construction firms here with interests overseas.
The master plan, an official development assistance (ODA) project, is to introduce a set of accident- and disaster-proof intelligent transport systems (ITS) on the highway that runs in two to six lanes and sees up to 39,800 vehicles per day. Thirteen ITS will be deployed on the highway in series by 2035, with a 133.2-kilometer section between Lima and Chancay being the primary site.
Korea Expressway Corp., a state-run highway builder, and Korean private firms Eznsys and DMEC executed the master plan proposal from 2024 to 2025, investing 830 million won ($540,000). They selected and proposed a road map for the ITS setup and developed follow-ups to the master plan.
Peruvian Minister of Transport and Communication Aldo Martin Prieto Barrera, left, speaks about Korea's smart road management system master plan for the Pan-American Highway, at the ministry's office in Lima, Thursday (local time). Courtesy of Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Peru’s Ministry of Transport and Communication last week hosted a ceremony for the selection of the master plan. Minister Aldo Martin Prieto Barrera and representatives of the Korean transport ministry and Korea Expressway Corp. joined the event at the Peruvian ministry’s office in Lima.
The Korean authority said the Peruvian government’s selection of the Korean ITS will enable the founding of a task force for the project and allocation of a budget. This legislation, the Korean ministry added, is meaningful because Korea’s ODA road project went beyond providing a consultation to being integrated into Peru's national policy.
Once the project’s installation begins, follow-up projects are expected to include more Korean firms. In 2019, Korea proposed a master plan for a national ITS ODA project in Colombia. It was approved by Colombia’s Ministry of Transport as a legally mandated plan in 2022, subsequently leading to follow-up projects for Korean private companies.
The Korean ministry’s Director General for Construction Policy Kim Seok-ki said, “This achievement is a result of transferring Korea’s road and traffic management experience to local conditions in Peru through our land and infrastructure ODA program. We expect this will not only enhance safety and operational efficiency of Peru’s national highways but also contribute to the overseas expansion of Korean enterprises.”
Starting next month, the Korean ministry will conduct a feasibility study for the ITS project in the Lima-Chancay section.