Seoul City was on Tuesday once again elected as the chair city of the World e-Governments Organization of Cities and Local Governments (WeGo), an international cooperative body for cities and local governments committed to sustainable city development by fostering collaboration among e-governing cities.

Attending the general assembly meeting of WeGo in Barcelona, Spain, Mayor Park Won-soon delivered a welcoming speech as the chairman of the organization in front of 1,000 city leaders and officials from international bodies such the United Nations, OECD, and World Bank.

The city expects to take the lead in e-governance and expand its influence on the world stage as it will keep the chairmanship until 2014.

“Seoul will communicate with member cities to narrow gaps in information and make action plans to transform the cities into ‘smart’ ones,” Park said in his speech.

WeGo was established in 2010 under the lead of Seoul City to promote exchanges among e-governing cities and sustainable development. It has 72 city members from 48 nations including Bangalore in India, Surrey in Canada, and Sabadell in Spain.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)