[November 4, 2025] [Exclusive] Seoul's Advanced Traffic System to Be Exported to Maldives — Green Light for Expanded K-Traffic Exports
Seoul Metropolitan Government is pushing to transplant its Seoul-style Smart Traffic Management System (TOPIS) to Malé, the capital of the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. Following previous traffic policy collaborations with Bogotá, Colombia and Wellington, New Zealand, Seoul's "K-Traffic" is now expanding into the Indian Ocean. Given the high demand for Seoul's traffic policies, particularly among developing countries, further export expansion is anticipated.
According to Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 4th, the city issued a tender on the 1st for a "Technical Assistance Project for Establishing an Integrated Traffic Management System in Malé, Maldives." Seoul is stepping in to provide a blueprint for solving the serious traffic problems in the Greater Malé Area (GMA). This project will be carried out as a Seoul-style Official Development Assistance (ODA) project. According to related reports, Seoul partnered with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to __select Malé as the target city, with plans to provide policy and technical support based on Seoul's experience in establishing and operating a smart traffic control system.
The project site, the Greater Malé Area (GMA), is a key hub where more than half of the country's total population is concentrated around the capital, Malé. Due to rapid economic growth and urbanization, the area has been experiencing overcrowding and traffic congestion. According to Seoul's research, the GMA's population has grown at an average annual rate of over 2% over the past decade, driving surging demand for urban space and infrastructure. This structural change is putting increasing pressure on transportation, housing, infrastructure, and the environment.
The GMA consists of four main islands — the capital Malé, Hulhulé (home to the international airport), the new town of Hulhumalé, and Vilimalé — as well as four islands planned for further westward expansion. While the Maldivian government is pursuing land reclamation, new town development, and inter-island bridge construction, the lack of a comprehensive spatial plan and limitations in administrative and institutional coordination have intensified traffic congestion and overcrowding, constraining the city's sustainable development. Analysts believe that transplanting Seoul's traffic management system to the GMA could resolve these issues.
Through this project, Seoul will begin designing an integrated traffic management system for the GMA. Key components include: comprehensive diagnosis of the traffic environment and operational conditions; conceptual design and operational framework for an integrated traffic management center; design of a data-driven system for collecting, analyzing, integrating, and delivering traffic information; a preliminary feasibility study; and a phased implementation strategy and pilot project plan. Additionally, the project will review policy, technical, and economic feasibility and prepare a financing plan for the full-scale project going forward.
A Seoul Metropolitan Government official explained, "When we receive requests for policy support from__ major cities in developing countries, traffic tends to be one of the most common areas of demand. Please understand this project as the first consulting and advisory step — before actual construction begins — to determine how Seoul's traffic management system can be applied locally in the Maldives."
Meanwhile, if this Maldives project proceeds successfully, Seoul's traffic system exports are expected to grow further. In 2023, Seoul signed a contract with Bogotá, Colombia for next-generation integrated transportation system consulting covering all modes of transport including buses, subways, and cable cars — continuing a transportation policy exchange that began with the export of a transit card system in 2011. In 2008, T-money's smart card system was exported to buses in Wellington, New Zealand, and in 2022, the system was expanded to all railway lines.
Media Outlet: EToday (https://www.etoday.co.kr/news/view/2523894)
Reporter: Jeong Yong-wook
