The event was attended by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea Moon Sung-wook, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association Christopher Koo, heads of Korea Eximbank, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), SK Ecoplant, Posco, Samsung, SK Nexilis, Youngone, KIA Motors, K-Water, KT-Net and many others.
It has become a tradition to hold such meetings during foreign visits. Thus, a large-scale business forum was held within the framework of the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan to the Republic of Korea in 2017. And in 2019, the heads of state took part in a joint business forum in Tashkent. As a result of these events, trust between businesspeople strengthened, trade, economic and investment partnerships became more active. Many projects have been launched. The expansion of interaction is also facilitated by serious changes in the introduction of market mechanisms in all sectors of the economy in Uzbekistan. Barriers that hindered the development of joint business have been removed.
“The transformations in our country are irreversible”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said. – The New Uzbekistan Development Strategy provides for the continuation of work on creating the most favorable conditions for entrepreneurs, expanding the presence of foreign business in our country. We value stable, trusting and dynamically developing cooperation with the Republic of Korea, a reliable friend and special strategic partner of Uzbekistan.
Systemic interaction has been built between the two states, including in the trade, economic and investment spheres. A special working group is operating. A department has been created in the structure of the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan that is responsible for the development of bilateral cooperation with the Republic of Korea.
Thanks to this attention and systematic work in recent years, relations between the two countries have reached an unprecedented new level. Trade turnover doubled and amounted to $2.2 billion. The volume of 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. Today there are more than a thousand of them. Together with Korean companies, 52 investment projects are being implemented in Uzbekistan for more than $9 billion.
The President of Uzbekistan called on Korean companies to develop breakthrough, truly large-scale joint initiatives.
Businesspeople of South Korea highly appreciated the conditions for active business created in Uzbekistan and expressed great interest in the development of investment cooperation.
The implementation of 40 new projects with Korean companies worth more than $5 billion in digitalization, green energy, mechanical engineering, agriculture, textile industry, pharmaceuticals, geology and many other areas was discussed at the meeting.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved these plans, instructed the responsible persons to develop and adopt an appropriate roadmap with the definition of specific terms.
“Our main goal is to make Korean business feel comfortable in Uzbekistan”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized.
The President of Uzbekistan invited the heads of Korean companies to visit Uzbekistan and take advantage of the favorable conditions created for foreign investors.
Thereupon, the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan to the Republic of Korea has ended. Shavkat Mirziyoyev departed for Tashkent.
