Ceremony of the official meeting of the President of Uzbekistan took place today at the Chong Wa Dae residence of the President of the Republic of Korea in Seoul.

A guard of honor was lined up in honor of the distinguished guest and his wife. The national anthems of the two countries were played.

Then the heads of state held talks with the participation of the official delegations of the two countries.

The President Moon Jae-in, welcoming the guest, stressed that Seoul attaches great importance to the further advancing of cooperation with Tashkent in the widest range of areas.

- I greet the dear Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, my dear brother. Welcome to Seoul. I remember well our online meeting in January this year. This was my first summit, opening the year. Today we are meeting, spending the outgoing year in person. It is especially gratifying that it is with you that my diplomatic schedule for this year began and is ending. Korea and Uzbekistan are special strategic partners. Together, various projects are being implemented in such areas as the production of agricultural equipment and electrical engineering, the power engineering industry and energy, as well as the construction of industrial enterprises. A number of important documents will be signed during your visit. We are ready to join hands with Uzbekistan, in response to global climate change, to develop cooperation in such promising areas as the creation of "smart" cities, smart farms, ICT and the production of electric cars. In the coming year, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations is awaiting us. I hope that in the new year we will jointly create a new page of prosperity.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev, thanking for the invitation, stressed that openness and mutual respect are a solid foundation on which relations between the two countries have historically been built.

- I am very glad to meet you. Thank you for your invitation to beautiful Korea on a state visit and for your traditionally warm welcome. The weather is cold now, but the soul of our Korean brothers is very warm. Being here, surrounded by friends, we feel at home. We treat your country and the Korean people in a special way. We have similar mentality, traditions and moral values. The implementation of your "New Deal" made it possible to strengthen the country's leading positions in the field of high technologies, digitalization, innovative and "green" development, to reveal the enormous intellectual potential of the talented Korean people, the President of Uzbekistan said.

Our countries have been strategic partners for 15 years. The friendship and political will of Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Moon Jae In have become powerful incentives to give new dynamics to cooperation between Uzbekistan and Korea.

This is the fourth meeting of the two leaders. In November 2017, Shavkat Mirziyoyev made his first state visit to the Republic of Korea. In April 2019, President Moon Jae-in paid a return visit to Uzbekistan, within the framework of which a Joint Declaration on a Special Strategic Partnership was adopted. A number of new topical initiatives to further strengthen ties were announced by the leaders during the online summit in January 2021.

This visit to Korea is a follow-up to the intensively advancing ties.

The Uzbek leader emphasized that today the time requires us to reconsider the priorities for the long term partnership ties. Cooperation between the two countries must fully respond to the modern challenges of the global economy.

The Republic of Korea is one of Uzbekistan’s key trade and economic partners. The trade and the number of joint ventures have almost doubled in recent years. Despite the pandemic, multifaceted relationships continue to evolve dynamically.

Uzbekistan and Korea have made significant progress in terms of Free Trade Agreement. At the meeting, they expressed confidence that with its signing next year, it will be possible to increase and balance the two-way trade.

The volume of Korean investments in the economy of Uzbekistan exceeds $ 7 billion. This year, $ 320 million were spent, which is 20 percent more than in 2020. The capital works for the implementation of joint projects in the chemical, petrochemical, textile industries, construction industry, agriculture.

Special attention will be paid to the effectiveness of long-term cooperation with the Eximbank of Korea, as well as the Economic Development and Cooperation Fund (EDCF). For example, financing through this fund alone has been increased to $ 1 billion.

The fruitful partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) is also expanding.

The Uzbek President identified three main areas of the immediate agenda: "green" development, digitalization and strengthening of the social protection system. All promising joint projects, programs and action plans are proposed to be considered through the prism of these main priorities.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev especially noted that by combining the human capital and natural resources of Uzbekistan with the advanced technologies and knowledge of the Republic of Korea, it will be possible to create a good basis for the launching manufacturing of products in demand on the world market. In this regard, the head of our state proposed to create, with the assistance of the Economic Development Assistance Fund (EDPF), an Uzbek-Korean cluster for the production of semiconductors and electronics in the Tashkent province. On its territory will be located scientific and educational institutions, research and development centers in the field of advanced technologies.

The parties expressed their mutual intention to encourage and develop in every possible way the activities of the Textile Technopark and the Center for Agricultural Engineering, jointly created in our country.

For Uzbekistan, the achievements of Korea in the development of the "digital" economy, artificial intelligence, "smart cities", outsourcing, a new generation of communications and Internet technologies are of practical interest.

Our countries have made significant cooperation progress in the health care, preschool and higher education. Since last year, the Multidisciplinary Children's Clinic has been operating in Tashkent - the first joint large project in the field of medicine.

The Korean educational model is one of the best in the world. That is why our country has completely reformed the preschool education system based on the advanced experience and knowledge of partners from Korea.

The President of Uzbekistan emphasized the importance of developing innovative cooperation between universities and proposed creating a permanent platform for their regular dialogue, holding the Forum of rectors of universities of the two countries next year.

During the talks, it was noted that one of the locomotives of economic growth in the post-pandemic period could be the tourism industry. Uzbekistan will support the participation of Korean companies in projects for the construction of hotels and infrastructure.

Next year, our countries will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 85th anniversary of the residence of the Korean diaspora in Uzbekistan.

They also exchanged views on issues of the global and regional agenda.

Uzbekistan and Korea have similar positions on many issues. Countries support each other in the international arena. The Republic of Korea supported the election of Uzbekistan as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, as well as in favor of the candidacy of Samarkand as the venue for the 25th session of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization in 2023. In turn, Uzbekistan supports Korea's intention to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2024-2025.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev highly valued the growing role of the Republic of Korea-Central AsiaForum in contributing to the sustainable development of our region.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to introduce new effective mechanisms of dialogue at the level of parliaments and governments in order to promote promising projects and programs of mutually beneficial cooperation.

In terms of the significance of the decisions made and the agreements reached, the state visit of the President of our country became a historic event and laid a solid foundation for bringing relations of special strategic partnership to an even higher level.