By Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu
Uzbekistan has another significance with its attractive commercial potential. The country is located in a strategic geographical area which connects China and Europe. This became a motive for Korean enterprises to invest and create regional projects in the country.
During the 1990s, major Korean companies began their investments in the country and a joint cooperation committee was launched to seek new collaboration areas. Daewoo showed an essential performance in the automobile industry. On the other side, energy cooperation became a milestone in the relationship. The Korean National Energy Corporation and its Uzbek counterparts started energy exploration activities for both oil and natural gas especially in the Ustyurt area of Uzbekistan. Here, a complex worth $4 billion was built and opened in 2016.
Transportation is also an important part of the bilateral economic relations. Korean companies modernized Navoi Airport in the late 2000s which connects Uzbekistan and the world. Moreover, Korea played an effective role for the development of the Navoi Free Industrial Economic Zone. These steps made Korea the fourth largest trade partner of Uzbekistan. It is hard to imagine that two countries which are a long distance from each other established a very close cooperation and partnership. Korea and Uzbekistan have achieved this.
The former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye periods bolstered the relationship. The New Asia Initiative and Eurasia Initiative concepts of these presidents gave a private room to Uzbekistan. After having several high-level meetings, tens of agreements were signed. By 2013, trade volume had reached $2 billion along with total Korean investment worth $5 billion.
With the election of the new president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan announced that Korea was an important partner and bilateral relations should improve. His official visit to Korea in 2017 created a new atmosphere, and both sides showed their willingness to boost economic cooperation. At the same process, President Mirziyoyev declared that the upcoming year was the year of supporting active entrepreneurship, innovative ideas and technologies. Creating new advantages for investors, ensuring high economic modernization, more liberalization of the exchange market and educating skilled human resources became the main strategies of this declaration. The relationship with Korea was also mentioned as an important target.
Currently, the country hosts over 500 Korean companies and $7 billion worth of Korean investment. Samsung, LG, Lotte, Hyundai and other major companies are operating in the country for the development of new kinds of projects. This makes Uzbekistan a trade hub in the region which is the crossroads of Russia, China and U.S. investments.
Consequently, we can say that Korea-Uzbekistan relations provide a different meaning as a peaceful, win-win style of cooperation. Without any political claim, both sides concentrate on the beneficial aspects of bilateral ties. This also positively affects the regional partnerships of Korea when it comes to analyze relations with other countries. The Korean model of economic development and goodwill in the partnership has helped the Central Asian region become a new rising star in the world.
Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu (oztarsu@gmail.com) is a Turkish analyst in Seoul.
Uzbekistan has another significance with its attractive commercial potential. The country is located in a strategic geographical area which connects China and Europe. This became a motive for Korean enterprises to invest and create regional projects in the country.
During the 1990s, major Korean companies began their investments in the country and a joint cooperation committee was launched to seek new collaboration areas. Daewoo showed an essential performance in the automobile industry. On the other side, energy cooperation became a milestone in the relationship. The Korean National Energy Corporation and its Uzbek counterparts started energy exploration activities for both oil and natural gas especially in the Ustyurt area of Uzbekistan. Here, a complex worth $4 billion was built and opened in 2016.
Transportation is also an important part of the bilateral economic relations. Korean companies modernized Navoi Airport in the late 2000s which connects Uzbekistan and the world. Moreover, Korea played an effective role for the development of the Navoi Free Industrial Economic Zone. These steps made Korea the fourth largest trade partner of Uzbekistan. It is hard to imagine that two countries which are a long distance from each other established a very close cooperation and partnership. Korea and Uzbekistan have achieved this.
The former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye periods bolstered the relationship. The New Asia Initiative and Eurasia Initiative concepts of these presidents gave a private room to Uzbekistan. After having several high-level meetings, tens of agreements were signed. By 2013, trade volume had reached $2 billion along with total Korean investment worth $5 billion.
With the election of the new president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan announced that Korea was an important partner and bilateral relations should improve. His official visit to Korea in 2017 created a new atmosphere, and both sides showed their willingness to boost economic cooperation. At the same process, President Mirziyoyev declared that the upcoming year was the year of supporting active entrepreneurship, innovative ideas and technologies. Creating new advantages for investors, ensuring high economic modernization, more liberalization of the exchange market and educating skilled human resources became the main strategies of this declaration. The relationship with Korea was also mentioned as an important target.
Currently, the country hosts over 500 Korean companies and $7 billion worth of Korean investment. Samsung, LG, Lotte, Hyundai and other major companies are operating in the country for the development of new kinds of projects. This makes Uzbekistan a trade hub in the region which is the crossroads of Russia, China and U.S. investments.
Consequently, we can say that Korea-Uzbekistan relations provide a different meaning as a peaceful, win-win style of cooperation. Without any political claim, both sides concentrate on the beneficial aspects of bilateral ties. This also positively affects the regional partnerships of Korea when it comes to analyze relations with other countries. The Korean model of economic development and goodwill in the partnership has helped the Central Asian region become a new rising star in the world.
Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu (oztarsu@gmail.com) is a Turkish analyst in Seoul.
