SEOUL, South Korea, July 2 /PRNewswire/ --

- 7 - 9 July 2008, Lotte Hotel Seoul, SEOUL, KOREA

From 7 to 9 July 2008, World e-Government Mayors Forum will take place in
Seoul with the participation of mayors and governors from some 40 cities
across the globe. Along with the heads of the cities, CIOs and IT experts of
cities from every continent, including Amsterdam, Ankara, Barcelona, Beijing,
Berlin, Bonn, Helsinki, Jakarta, Manila, Nairobi, Perth, San Francisco and
Sao Paulo, will get together in Seoul to discuss future perspectives of
e-governments and ways to boost further collaboration between the cities.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080630/HKTU003LOGO-a )

Hosted by Seoul and co-sponsored by UNDESA and UNGC, the Mayors Forum
will be held under the theme World e-Government-its present and future,
building up a model of e-government cooperation, aiming to provide a platform
to share outstanding models of each e-government practice, promote exchanges
and cooperation between the cities, and present fresh vision for future
e-governments.

Presided by the Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Welcoming Dinner on 7 July will
be the first official event of the Forum, while Mayors Roundtable on the
following day will highlight the entire forum by serving as a discussion
ground for the mayors and other representatives. Besides, Dr. Nicholas
Negroponte, who is well-known for his roles as a chairman of One Laptop Per
Child (OLPC) Association and a founder of MIT Media Lab, will deliver a
keynote remark. Another keynote speaker during Opening Ceremony is Mr. Guido
Bertucci who is a director of Division for Public Administration and
Development Management (DPADM) of UNDESA.

Above all, the mayor of Seoul and other leaders of participating cities
will jointly proclaim Seoul IT Declaration, whose main points are to come up
with practical ways to reinforce e-government collaboration. In addition,
participating cities will discuss an issue of forming a cooperation body
between e-governments.

Within the framework of the cooperation body, prospective member cities
will launch and carry out wide-ranged yet specific on- and off-line joint
projects, including projects on sharing outstanding models of e-governments,
narrowing the digital-divide, enhancing administrative productivity and
transparency by utilising IT, and formulating and disseminating strategies on
eco-friendly IT or Green-IT.

For further information, visit the official website of World e-Government
Mayors Forum at http://wegmf.seoul.go.kr .

Contact: 

     Ms. Jeeyoung, Kim
     Tel:   +82-2-6361-3116
     Email: jeeyoung@seoul.go.kr

Web site: http://wegmf.seoul.go.kr