Vancouver and nearby Langley in southwestern Canada is to install Korean-made LED lamps in February, next year after the certification process.

According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, Yuyang DNU, a Korean LED producer, will supply 20 units of 50-watt and 80-watt lights without charge to the two cities for a test operation. The deal is to be signed Wednesday.

The deal comes as part of the trade agency’s project to help local small- and mid-sized businesses export their products.

Korea is said to be the world’s second-largest LED producer after Japan. And Korean government provides up to 50 million won ($44,200) through the matching fund for overseas marketing.

Vancouver and Langley are among an increasing number of local governments turning to LED as a fresh source of public lighting in a bid to slash utility and maintenance costs.

In Korea, LEDs account for more than 90 percent of traffic lights and about 14 percent of lighting at municipalities and state-run firms.

The government is pushing to substitute LEDs for all street lamps ― more than 2.7 million nationwide ― which it said could reduce electricity use by the country’s public lighting system by 40 percent.