Lee wraps up visit to Uzbekistan, heads to Kazakhstan

TASHKENT, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak headed to Kazakhstan on Wednesday after bagging a massive gas field development and plant construction contract and other economic cooperation agreements with Uzbekistan.
The centerpiece of Lee's two-day visit to Tashkent was the signing Tuesday of a US$4.1 billion package of deals to develop the Surgil gas field near the Aral Sea and build a gas and chemicals plant, the largest-ever deal since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992.
Also signed were a $7 million contract to export an information technology system to modernize Uzbekistan's stock market, as well as seven memorandums of understanding on rare earth resources, textile technology cooperation and other sectors.
Lee's visit to Astana is also expected to focus on economic cooperation and contracts. Kazakhstan is the world's ninth-largest country by land mass, roughly the size of Western Europe, and boasts rich reserves of oil, gas, zinc, tungsten and other mineral resources.
On Thursday, Lee plans to meet with President Nursultan Nazarbayev for summit talks about improving bilateral relations and strengthening cooperation in trade, investment, energy, resources and other fields.
Two $4 billion contracts are planned between the two sides for the construction of a petrochemical plant and a thermal power plant in the Central Asian nation. The sides also plan to sign a series of cooperation agreements in health care, medicine, environment, scientific research and other sectors.
jschang@yna.co.kr