Building on Success: How Korea's Real Estate Expertise Is Driving Development

Building on Success: How Korea's Real Estate Expertise Is Driving Development

Korea's transformation from aid recipient to one of the World Bank's key donors within a single generation stands as one of the most inspiring models for development and strengthening this association is the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF). It is a trust fund managed by the World Bank and is the largest the Government of Korea has with any Multilateral Development Bank (MDB). KWPF was established with the objective to support low- and middle-income countries adapt and apply Korea's development experience and technical expertise to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth.

A defining feature of KWPF is the active role played by Korean institutions, which partner directly with World Bank Group task teams to share knowledge and support client countries on the ground. One such institution is the Korea Real Estate Board (REB), a recognized leader in land administration and real estate policy. Through KWPF, REB has partnered with many World Bank Group task teams, contributing its expertise to support client countries navigating land reforms and related challenges.

We reached out to Bongjoon Kim, Director, Global Cooperation Division to learn more about this partnership, what Korea's experience has to offer, and how the exchange of expertise is helping countries build more equitable and sustainable land systems.

Q. Could you tell us about the Korea Real Estate Board (REB) and how its partnership with the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF) came about?

A: REB is a public institution that helps ensure transparent and reliable real estate policy. Established in 1969 as the Korea Appraisal Board, REB has grown from a valuation institution into a comprehensive public agency within Korea's land and real estate policy framework. Today, its work covers mass valuation for property taxation, real estate market statistics, operation of real estate information systems, appraisal review, compensation, urban renewal, green building certification, and policy research. REB's distinctive strength is that it combines policy, data, systems, and field valuation expertise within one institution. REB annually supports the public announcement of land and housing values nationwide, operates systems including Real Estate Transaction Management System (RTMS) and KRIMS, and provides the evidence base for government real estate policy and market monitoring.

Our collaboration with the World Bank Group through KWPF began in 2022 through the 'Indonesia: Supporting Domestic Resource Mobilization for Infrastructure Investment through Improved Land and Property Valuation', project. In the same year, the partnership was further solidified through a Memorandum of Understanding between the World Bank and REB, providing an institutional framework for cooperation on land and property valuation infrastructure, ICT-based and computer-assisted mass valuation, and digital innovations for valuation. REB has supported four World Bank task teams since then through KWPF-related projects, reaching Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Final mission for the KWPF-supported Indonesia project, March 2024. © Korea Real Estate Board

Q. What types of support has REB extended to client countries through this partnership, and could you share one experience that you found particularly rewarding?

A: Through KWPF, REB's support has focused mainly on land administration, real estate mass valuation, property taxation, and digital real estate information systems. The work has not been limited to study tours. Apart from the Indonesian project mentioned previously, in Pakistan, under the KWPF project 'Mass Land Valuation Pilot for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa', REB helped demonstrate how administrative records, geospatial data, and field surveys could be combined to produce evidence-based residential land values in a pilot area. In Nepal, Under the KWPF project, 'Learning from Korea's Experience on Land and Property Valuation and Taxation System', REB prepared a technical documentation report on Korea's land and property valuation and taxation system to assist policymakers in considering institutional, legal, and technological options. More recently, REB organized and delivered a capacity-building program for government officials from Bangladesh and Pakistan in Korea, which included lectures, system demonstrations, and site visits covering Korea's public announcement system, property tax, cadastre, KRIMS, RTMS, and architectural information systems.

A rewarding experience: The Pakistan mass land valuation pilot was a particularly rewarding experience. It went beyond just knowledge sharing and tested a practical model in a real administrative context. Even with data limitations, the pilot demonstrated that mass valuation could be technically feasible when parcel data, GIS analysis, reference parcel selection, and field verification are combined. This was meaningful because Korea's experience was adapted and translated into recommendations for fairer taxation, better data governance, and future scale-up.

Capacity Building on Mass Property Valuation for Bangladeshi and Pakistani officials, January 2026. © Korea Real Estate Board

Q. Given that KWPF task teams have often partnered with REB to support land administration and real estate initiatives in client countries, have these countries continued to engage with REB after the completion of the KWPF-supported grants? If so, how has the partnership evolved and sustained over time?

A: Yes, and Indonesia is an important example of how a KWPF-supported engagement developed into a sustained institutional relationship. In our experience, KWPF-supported work often becomes the starting point for longer technical dialogue rather than a one-time activity. Client countries and World Bank task teams have continued to engage with REB.

During the KWPF-supported Indonesia project implementation, REB and ATR/BPN(the project's recipient agency) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on real estate price systems and digital information. The MoU was significant because it formalized the trust and technical dialogue built during the ongoing collaboration on land and property valuation, mass valuation modeling, databank formation, and pilot system strategy. It provided a basis for exchanging regulatory information, standards, methods, techniques, and experiences. This includes cooperation on real estate mass valuation, digital information, land acquisition and development, policy and legal systems, professional knowledge exchange, and capacity-building activities.

Building on this relationship, REB has also proposed a 2027 Official Development Assistance (ODA) project funded by Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) to expand cooperation with ATR/BPN into the field of land compensation management. This reflects how the KWPF-supported engagement has continued to create opportunities for broader institutional and technical cooperation.

Signing ceremony for the MoU between REB and Indonesia's ATR/BPN, April 2023. © Korea Real Estate Board

Q. As a closing thought, what would you like to share about REB's experience of partnering with the World Bank through KWPF? What does this collaboration mean for REB and the broader goal of sustainable development?

A: For REB, partnering with the World Bank through KWPF has been more than a channel for sharing technical expertise. It has been an opportunity to reflect on Korea's own development path and translate that experience into practical support for countries facing similar, but not identical, reform challenges. Korea's land and property systems were built over many decades through urbanization, industrialization, legal reform, digitalization, and continuous debate on fairness in taxation and land use. Therefore, our message to client countries is not that Korea's model should be copied as it is. Rather, the value lies in sharing the underlying principles and experiences: clear legal mandates, reliable and integrated data, transparent valuation standards, coordination among institutions, public disclosure, objection procedures, and digital systems that strengthen professional decision-making.

The World Bank and KWPF make this exchange more effective by connecting REB's experience with real reform demand on the ground. Through World Bank task teams, we can understand each country's institutional context, work with counterpart agencies, and tailor our support from technical reports to pilot models, system demonstrations, workshops, and capacity-building programs. REB also learns from each engagement. The challenges faced by Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh remind us that valuation reform is not only technical; it is closely linked to domestic revenue mobilization, tenure security, market transparency, and public trust.

As Korea has transitioned from an aid recipient country to a donor country, REB sees KWPF as a meaningful way to give back. The collaboration allows us to share lessons with humility, support sustainable development, and build partnerships that continue beyond individual projects.

Related Links:

· REB's Official Website

· Introductory Video about REB