Mechanisms for deepening Uzbek-Korean cooperation considered

On June 6 this year, negotiations were held at the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade with the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to the Republic of Uzbekistan
Kim Hee Sang.

During the meeting, the current agenda of the Uzbek-Korean partnership, the implementation of the agreements reached, as well as the state of preparation for upcoming events were discussed.

A number of successfully implemented projects in the fields of education, healthcare, infrastructure, information and communication technologies and other areas, implemented through direct investment and funds from Korean financial institutions, such as Eximbank, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Fund for Economic Cooperation and Development ( EDCF) and the Economic Development Promotion Fund (EDPF).

Today, about 100 investment projects totalling more than $14 billion are being implemented in Uzbekistan together with Korean companies. The volume of accumulated direct Korean investments in the economy of Uzbekistan exceeded $7 billion.

Over the past five years, the number of enterprises with Korean capital in Uzbekistan has doubled (900 as of June 1).

No less attention was paid to the intensification of trade between countries. Over the past five years, trade has doubled and reached $1.8 billion in 2021. According to the results of the first quarter of this year, this indicator increased by 51 percent (630.4 million dollars). The parties agreed to intensify efforts to achieve the goals set by the leadership of the two countries and bring the volume of mutual trade to $5 billion by 2025.

The prospects for introducing new mechanisms of interaction between the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Korea, and the diplomatic missions of the two countries aimed at monitoring existing and promising projects, coordinating projects implemented through the Korean Official Development Assistance (ODA) program were discussed.

As a result of the meeting, an agreement was reached to continue an active dialogue in order to accelerate the progress of all the issues discussed.