Mayor of Bogota Claudia Lopez speaks during a breakfast meeting promoting investment opportunities in the Colombian capital at a hotel in Seoul, Oct. 12. Courtesy of Embassy of Colombia in Seoul

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Mayor of Bogota Claudia Lopez visited Korea to attend the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) seventh World Congress and Summit of Local and Regional Leaders in Daejeon and promote investment opportunities in the Colombian capital, especially in the fields of infrastructure and mobility.

The Colombian delegation is comprised of the mayor's office, Invest in Bogota, Metro Bogota and Procolombia.

The mayor's office said this visit is a great opportunity to strengthen trade relations between the two countries as Bogota can be a great investment market for technology, innovation, pharmaceutical and cosmetics as well as city infrastructure projects.

On Wednesday, Lopez held a breakfast meeting titled "Bogota: Business Opportunities in Mobility Infrastructure Projects" to promote investment opportunities in the capital and strengthen trade relations between the two countries.

"The South Korean capital is a pioneer in innovation of industrial parks that have leveraged the industry. Therefore, it is expected to adopt good practices that can be implemented in the construction of the Science, Technology and Innovation District of Bogota, which seeks to strengthen the ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as position the Bogota region as a hub of innovation and development in the international arena," the mayor's office said in a statement.

At the UCLG summit in Daejeon, Lopez participated in panels on topics such as the development of smart districts, equality in urban policy and transparency in local governments, sharing the experiences of the Colombian capital with the construction of more resilient, sustainable and peaceful communities.

On Saturday, Lopez met Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the sister cities' relationship.

Seoul and Bogota have been cooperating in many areas, especially city transit systems, and Mayor Lopez said Seoul's integrated transfer system would help Bogota to develop a similar system for connecting public transportation systems such as subways, buses and gondola lifts.

Elected in 2019, Lopez is the first female mayor of Colombia's capital. She also serves as president of Metropolis, a global network of major cities and metropolitan areas, and vice chair of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.