The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is to share its expertise in spatial information management with the Saudi Arabian government.

Civil servants of the Mecca city office will be visiting Korea this week to take educational sessions on spatial information technology, according to officials on Monday.

During the two-day course, the ministry will give a presentation on how to computerize information on underground facilities and to run an information platform on spatial information.

“This special program was designed upon the request of the Saudi Arabian government, which plans to establish a computerized information system on its underground space by the end of the year,” said a ministry official.

The friendly exchange is also expected to up the chance for Korean companies in winning large construction orders led by the Middle Eastern state, the official added.

Last year, officials from Abu Dhabi, too, came to Korea and signed a memorandum of understanding on spatial information exchange.

Currently, some 10 Korean companies including Samsung SDS are participating in the 5 billion won ($4.4 million) system building project in Abu Dhabi, according to officials.

Since 1998, Korea has been working on computerizing the information on its underground facilities, which involve a database on some 287,000 kilometers of pipes and tunnels.

Under the new comprehensive system, officials may check the underground situation and decide whether the area is fit for excavation work, without even visiting the site.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)