President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov met with Park Hee-Tae, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, at the Oqsaroy on January 10.

The head of our state noted at the start of conversation that for Uzbekistan, the Republic of Korea has been a time-tested strategic partner reliable in every respect, the one who has been consistent in assisting our country in the implementation of wide-ranging national programs of cardinal reforms and thoroughgoing modernization of economy and social sphere.

Park Hee-Tae cordially congratulated President Islam Karimov on the upcoming twentieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two nations to be celebrated January 29. The Korean official said his country’s leadership and the National Assembly highly appreciate the existing constructive and fruitful interstate relations, attach a particular significance to further enhancement of bilateral ties.

To date, Uzbekistan and South Korea have hoarded a tremendous cooperation experience in political, trade-economic and investment, cultural and humanitarian areas that serves as a robust backbone for materialization of longer-term mutually advantageous projects. A substantial and comprehensive normative groundwork has been built by bilateral agreements.

President Lee Myung-Bak’s state visit to Uzbekistan in August 2011 proved a logical extension of practice of highest-level regular meetings and demonstrated a shared, solid political will to afford an even greater dynamism to the bilateral interaction. Noteworthy that the heads of our two states during that visit gave a start to the construction project – unparalleled in terms of scale and new technologies – Ustyurt Gas Chemical Complex at the Surgil deposit, a scheme worth 2.6 billion US dollars.

It has been stressed at the meeting that the high intensity of inter-parliamentary bonds has been important in the dynamic advancement of Uzbek-Korean relations. The National Assembly hosts Korea-Uzbekistan Friendship Association, while a group for cooperation with the Republic of Korea is set up in Oliy Majlis. Legislatures of our two countries regularly exchange visits.

The parties to today’s talks were pleased to take note of the steady tendency toward expansion of economic and investment cooperation. Bilateral trade within last year’s eleven months exceeded $1.5bn. The sum total of registered South Korean investments in Uzbekistan’s economy has topped $5bn, whereas the volume of materialized inputs has beaten $2bn. More than 350 enterprises with South Korean capital currently operate in Uzbekistan.

Worthwhile has been the activities of Korean Air that manages transcontinental intermodal hub at Navoi International Airport, where up to 24 flights are made every week to major regional economic and financial centers of Asia and Europe. Korean businesses have been energetic in boosting Navoi Free Industrial and Economic Zone by implementing a whole range of mutually beneficial projects.

Uzbekistan has bolstered cooperation with the Country of the Morning Freshness in cultural and humanitarian realms. In particular, some 1.5 thousand representatives of our government agencies have been retrained in the Republic of Korea within programs of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

A detailed and open exchange of views on promising areas of Uzbek-South Korean interaction has taken place during the meeting at the Oqsaroy, UzA informs.