President Park Geun-hye and Uzbek President Islam Karimov  are at a media conference following their summit at Cheong Wa Dae on May 28 in which they agreed to expand and further strengthen bilateral ties between Korea and Uzbekistan in many key areas including economic, health care even to security.(Photo:Cheong Wa Dae)

It was Karimov’s first official visit abroad after his reelection as the President of Uzbekistan in March.

In exchange for South Korean capital, Uzbekistan will support Seoul against North Korea’s nuclear threat, back its goal of building a railway link with Europe and allow Korean firms to undertake key industrial projects in the Central Asian nation.

During a summit at Cheong Wa Dae, President Park Geun-hye and Uzbek President Islam Karimov agreed to boost economic relations between the two countries in areas like oil, gas, petrochemicals and solar energy, and to expand cooperation in health care.

The two leaders agreed to support joint ventures between businesses from the two countries and encourage initiatives that link Korean firms’ technological know-how and capital with Uzbekistan’s rich natural resources. Overall, Tashkent said it was ready to create a favourable business environment for Korean companies.

President Park also asked the Uzbek president to help Korean companies participate in large-scale infrastructure projects, which include the construction of thermal power plants in Turakurgan worth $1 billion (1.11 trillion won) and Takhiatash worth $700 million (773.85 billion won), and a solar power plant in Samarkand worth $300 million (331.65 billion won).

Also, Cheong Wa Dae said the two heads of state agreed to ensure smooth operation of ongoing projects, which includes the construction of the Surgil gas field worth $3.9 billion (4.31 trillion won) and a gas liquefaction project worth $3.1 billion (3.43 trillion won), the development of Kandym gas field worth $2.7 billion (2.98 trillion won), the modernization project of Talimarjan thermal power plants worth $820 million (906.51 billion won), the construction of highways worth $170 million (187.94 billion won), and the modernization project of electric power meters worth $100 million (110.55 billion won).

During the meeting, both heads of state highly praised the international distribution center of the Navoi International Airport, which has been newly built through partnerships with Korea and Uzbekistan. They also praised it for being successfully operated. It has become a complex logistics hub airport to transport 100,000 tons of freight annually. Also, they decided to consider measures for Korean companies to participate in airport modernization projects that will be initiated by the Uzbek government in the future.

In the meantime, the Korea and Uzbekistan Business Forum, held on May 26 at Hotel Lotte in downtown Seoul, has been an occasion to expand business exchanges between the two countries. An MOU was signed to speed up the expansion of business cooperation between the nations, with some 200 key officials and business leaders attending.

Deputy Prime Minister and Strategy and Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan led the Korean side, which included Minister Yoon Sang-jick of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Uzbekistan side included First deputy Prime Minister Asimov and Minister Ganiyev of the Ministry of External Economy Links, Investment and Trade, other high-ranking officials, heads of government organizations and private business leaders.

Key issues taken up at the forum included economic cooperation, projects with great potential, and financing ways with suggestions for economic cooperation projects in promising sectors. The Uzbekistan side recommended the chemical sector as the most promising for cooperation, and possible ways to secure financing for the projects. The Korean side noted such areas as chemical, transportation, and logistics and the financing measures to pave the way for Korean business firms’ investments in the Central Asian nation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Kyung-hwan said that, "Uzbekistan, located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, has traditionally been a key priority economic partner of Korea. The visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov to Korea on May 28, which was the first visit of the Uzbek President after presidential elections, witnessed a high level of strategic partnership relations between our countries."