KT aids Mongolia's digital transformation in return for minerals, business opportunities
Ku Hyeon-mo, second from right, Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, third from left, prime minister of Mongolia, and other Mongolian government officials take a look KT's data center in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of KT
By Baek Byung-yeul
KT is supporting Mongolia's bid to achieve a digital transformation. The Korean telecommunications company, whose business portfolio ranges from telecoms and cloud computing to media and finance, inked a cooperation agreement with Mongolia on Wednesday.
KT said it signed cooperation agreements with a delegation from Mongolia, led by Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, not only for digital transformation but also for securing mineral resources and digital financial business opportunities.
“The meeting served as an opportunity to check the current business status and future direction and to further strengthen business cooperation with Mongolia,” Moon Sung-wook, head of KT's global business, said.
“By cooperating with Mongolia, we will make our best efforts to contribute to the development of Korea,” Moon added.
As part of the cooperation agreement, KT and local cable manufacturer LS C&S signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mongolia's Monnis Group to import mineral resources such as rare earth elements.
The three parties will jointly verify business feasibility. They are also looking for ways to establish a consortium with other partners.
BC Card, the financial arm of KT Group, also signed MOUs with Mongolian companies. With Mongolia-based food retail company COSMO Group, BC Card signed an MOU for a digital voucher business model.
With Aero Mongolia, a subsidiary of Monnis Group, BC Card also signed an MOU to cooperate in the payment network business, which is centered on Asian routes.
KT also invited the Mongolian delegation to tour its Internet Data Center (IDC) in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. KT also demonstrated how to use Mongolia's T-Card national payment system in Korea. T-Card is a representative payment system in Mongolia used by about 70 percent of its population.
The T-Card use demonstration was conducted as part of an agreement between BC Card and Bank of Korea, which was made on Jan. 26. With the agreement, around 100,000 Mongolians who visit Korea every year, will be able to conveniently use the card in Korea also.
On the sidelines of the delegation's visit, KT held a business round table meeting at a hotel in Seoul to discover business opportunities in the development of Mongolia.