After the official welcoming ceremony, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in held talks in narrow and expanded formats.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev welcomed the distinguished guest in the Uzbek land and noted that this was an important and long-awaited visit.
- South Korea is Uzbekistan’s reliable and priority partner. I warmly recall our meeting in 2017. Then the negotiations were held in a sincere and constructive atmosphere, with a significant package of accords signed. Your current visit will give a new impetus to the development of bilateral ties,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The President Moon-Jae-in expressed his gratitude for the invitation to visit Uzbekistan.
“Uzbekistan is a country with an 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 occupies an important place in the Korea Republic’s New Northern Policy, aimed at enhancing trade and boost investments. Today we intend to upgrading the strategic partnership relationship of the two nations and measures to bolster bilateral cooperation in “a future-looking manner”, said Moon-Jae-in.
The two leaders agreed to search for mutually beneficial areas of partnership, actively continuing political dialogue and consultations and to strengthen the strategic partnership ties and to expand bilateral cooperation and strengthen friendship between the peoples.
The parties commended the upward trend in trade and economic ties, still noting the existence of huge untapped potential and pointed to the need to improve the legal and institutional framework for this purpose and to intensify visits at various levels and contacts between the businesses community.
The South Korea leader expressed support to Uzbekistan’s efforts to strengthen the atmosphere of good-neighborliness in the region, mitigate the effects of the Aral tragedy, and promote the peace process in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan, in turn, said it supported the policies of the Republic of Korea aimed at achieving the peace in the Korean Peninsula.
At the meeting between the delegations, the sides focused on the development of practical cooperation in the trade and economic, investment, financial and technical, cultural, humanitarian and other fields.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that Uzbekistan is interested in expanding cooperation in the energy, oil and gas, chemical, mining, transport and logistics areas, the implementation of machine building, electrical engineering, textile and food industry, and infrastructure projects.
He emphasized the intention to continue to provide full support to Korean businesses so that they feel comfortable and confident in Uzbekistan.
The parties considered new opportunities for partnership in the said areas, with specific relevant proposals made and agreed to set up joint ventures, free economic and small industrial zones, tin development of "e-government", and training of personnel in the innovation and social spheres.
The head of our state noted interest in further expanding cooperation in these areas. The South Korean President expressed his country's readiness to share best practices and help in staff skills enhancing.
President Moon Jae Ying invited President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to visit South Korea at a convenient time for him.
