Uzbekistan-S Korea relations turn mature - Karimov

TASHKENT, August 24 (Itar-Tass) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak'
s visit to Uzbekistan that began on Tuesday is "a milestone event in the
history of the two countries' bilateral relations and a logical and
consecutive continuation of dynamically developing strategic partnership
and cooperation," Uzbek President Islam Karimov said on Wednesday.
According to the president's press service, Karimov underlined that
relations between Uzbekistan and South Korea "in full sense became mature,
well-thought-out and mutually advantageous at the interstate and
intergovernmental levels."
The Uzbek leader underlined that the two countries' bilateral
relations "accumulated rich experience of successful and mutually
beneficial trade, economic and investment cooperation."
South Korea is one of Uzbekistan's largest trade partners, the press
service said. South Korea's total volume of stated investments in the
economy of the Central Asian republic exceeds 5 billion US dollars, while
disbursed investments, mainly direct ones, exceed 2 billion US dollars.
South Korea's Neoplant and Shindong Enercom Inc. that conduct
geological surveys at quartz-containing fields will soon launch projects
on technical silica production. Daewoo International, Haintex and Shindong
Enercom Inc. successfully implement projects in the textile industry.
Uzbek companies jointly with LG Electronics have launched refrigerator
production in Samarkand.
South Korea's government and business circles support projects for
the development of a free industrial economic zone and the creation of a
transcontinental logistics centre in Navoyi.
Korean Air that controls the transcontinental multimodal hub at the
airport in Navoyi plans to add to 24 flights per week such destinations as
Seoul, Milan, Brussels, Frankfurt, Bangkok, Mumbai, Istanbul, Dubai and
launch cargo traffic to Hanoi, Riga and Shanghai.
Karimov noted that during Lee's visit the first stone will be laid to
launch the construction of the Ustyurt gas-chemical complex. Direct
investments in the project are estimated at 2.6 billion US dollars.
The two countries' presidents told a news conference that "they held
constructive talks in the spirit of mutual trust and respect and that the
agreements reached will contribute to further development and productivity
of the Uzbek-Korean relations and to higher well-being of both nations."
After the talks Karimov and Lee adopted a joint statement that
"reflects the current state of and prospects for cooperation between the
Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea."
The two countries also signed a range of agreements on industrial and
energy cooperation, engineering services, equipment supplies and
construction.
Uzbekistan and South Korea also sealed a 4.1 billion US dollar
contract to develop the Surgil gas field near the Aral Sea and to build
the Ustyurt gas-chemical plant.
They also signed a treaty to simplify visa rules for South Korea's
business people and specialists and 20 agreements on economic cooperation
in such areas as health, medicine, IT and textile industry.
At present, around 30,000 Uzbek citizens are employed in South Korea's
industries.