After the official welcoming ceremony, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in held negotiations in a contracted and extended formats.
The Head of the state welcomed the distinguished guest in Uzbekistan and noted that this is an important and long-awaited visit.
– South Korea is Uzbekistan’s reliable and priority partner. I warmly recall our meeting in 2017. The negotiations were held in a sincere and constructive atmosphere, a significant package of documents was signed. Your current visit will give a new impetus to development of interstate relations, – Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.
The President of the Republic of Korea expressed his gratitude for the invitation to Uzbekistan.
– Uzbekistan is a country with ancient and rich history in the center of the Great Silk Road. Today, your country is entering a new era of its development. We see in Uzbekistan a partner that has an important place in the New North policy of South Korea, aimed at enhancing trade and investment ties. Today we intend to bring cooperation to the level of a special strategic partnership, – Moon Jae-in said.
Prospects for development of comprehensive cooperation between our countries were discussed at the meeting. The leaders of the two countries agreed on the issues of finding mutually beneficial areas of partnership, actively continuing political dialogue and consultations for regular comparing notes.
The parties agreed to strengthen strategic partnership for expanding bilateral cooperation and strengthening friendship between peoples of the two countries.
Positive assessment was given to the dynamics of trade-economic cooperation. It was noted that there are many opportunities for its further expansion. The need for improvement of the legal and institutional framework for this purpose, intensifying visits at various levels and contacts between business communities was emphasized.
At the meeting, views were exchanged on current issues of the regional and international agenda of mutual interest. It was noted that South Korea supports the practical efforts of Uzbekistan on strengthening the atmosphere of good-neighborliness in the region, mitigating the effects of the Aral tragedy, promoting the peace process in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan, in turn, supports the peace-loving policy of the Republic of Korea, aimed at strengthening the agreement on the Korean Peninsula.
Main attention at the negotiations in an extended format has been paid to the development of practical cooperation in trade-economic, investment, financial-technical, cultural-humanitarian and other fields.
Uzbekistan – South Korean cooperation is consistently developing in all areas. The most-favored nation regime functions between the two countries.
An important role in development and implementation of mutually beneficial projects is played by the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. On March 4 this year, Tashkent hosted its ninth meeting. Since 2018, the format of meetings of Deputy Prime Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea on economic issues has been introduced.
Over the past two years, the trade turnover between the two countries exceeded 2.1 billion dollars, which became the highest figure in recent years.
660 enterprises are operating in Uzbekistan with participation of Korean investors, including 354 enterprises with 100% foreign capital.
The Korean side welcomed the ongoing reforms aimed at liberalizing the economy and improving the investment climate. This will serve to increase Korean investment in Uzbekistan, increase the number of high-value-added industries and enhance cooperation between the two countries in the field of technology.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that Uzbekistan is interested in expanding cooperation in the energy, oil and gas, chemical, mining, transport and logistics spheres, implementation of promising projects in mechanical and electrical engineering, textile and food industry, infrastructure development.
The President of Uzbekistan emphasized the intention to continue to provide full support to Korean business so that they could feel comfortable and confident in Uzbekistan.
During the negotiations, new opportunities for partnership in these areas were discussed, relevant proposals were considered. The parties agreed on creation of joint ventures in leading sectors of the economy, free economic and small industrial zones of Uzbekistan, development of electronic government, training personnel for the innovation and social fields.
Humanitarian relations are another important, complex direction of Uzbekistan – South Korean relations. Today, fruitful cooperation is maintained in the fields of information technology, digital medicine, education and culture. The experience of South Korea is widely introduced into the preschool education system of Uzbekistan.
The President of Uzbekistan noted the interest in further expanding cooperation in these areas. The President of the Republic of Korea expressed his country’s readiness to share best practices and promote personnel development.
President Moon Jae-in invited President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to visit South Korea at a convenient time for him.
