Seoul (AsiaNews) – South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Uzbek President Islam Karimov yesterday agreed to upgrade the South Korean-Uzbek partnership. This is Karimov’s first official visit abroad after his landslide re-election in March.
In exchange for South Korean capital, Uzbekistan will support Seoul against North Korea’s nuclear threat and back its goal of building a railway link with Europe.
During a summit at Cheong Wa Dae (Blue Palace), the official residence of the South Korean President, President Park Geun-hye and Uzbek President Islam Karimov agreed to boost economic relations between the two countries in areas like oil, gas, petrochemicals and solar energy and to expand cooperation in health care.
The two leaders agreed to support joint ventures between businesses from the two countries and encourage initiatives that link Korean firms’ technological know-how and capital with Uzbekistan’s rich natural resources. Overall, Tashkent said it was ready to create a favourable business environment for Korean companies.
Karimov especially expressed keen interest in Park’s creative economy drive, calling it a successful development tool devised to deal with the slowing global economy and growing regional tensions.
Karimov vowed to support South Korea’s vision of peaceful unification and join the regional efforts to resolve North Korea‘s nuclear threats.
For South Korea, the partnership would help Asia’s fourth-largest economy create a new growth engine and boost bilateral with the goal of linking railways between Asia and Europe.
President Park has called for international support to her vision of linking roads and railways across the continent to connect South Korea directly to Europe, through North Korea, Russia and China.
The two leaders also observed the signing of memorandums of understanding on issues including technological development, information technology and security.
In particular, the two sides agreed to recognize each other’s driver’s licenses, allowing South Korean and Uzbek travellers or expats to drive vehicles without having to go through additional exams. However, South Koreans in Uzbekistan will be required to carry their licenses along with a translated version of their South Korean papers.
The Uzbek government also agreed to exempt social security fees for South Korean staff employed by South Korean firms operating in Uzbekistan.
Karimov visited South Korea for the first time in 1991. Park first met her Uzbek counterpart last year, as part of her trip to Central Asia.
Uzbekistan is South Korea’s largest trading partner in Central Asia. Last year, two-way trade reached US$ 1.9 billion.