KOICA to provide healthcare, IT support for Uzbekistan

Deputy President of KOICA Im Jeong-hee, left, poses with Sherzod Shermatov, center, Uzbekistan's Minister for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications and IT Park CEO Farkhod Ibragimov in Seoul, Thursday, after signing a record of discussion on the ICT project. Courtesy of KOICA

By Kang Seung-woo

Starting next year, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) will help Uzbekistan in several areas, including digitalization, education and infectious disease control.

KOICA President Sohn Hyuk-sang and Uzbekistan's Deputy Prime Minister Sardor Umurzakov signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the 2022-24 cooperation program, Friday, on the sidelines of a summit between President Moon Jae-in and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Seoul.

Uzbekistan is one of Korea's key partners in Central Asia, as evidenced by the promotion of bilateral relations to a Special Strategic Partnership in April 2019.

The MOU stipulates that Korea will provide the Central Asian country with $88 million (99.2 billion won) to implement 14 projects.

For the next three years, the two countries will cooperate mainly in the areas of infectious disease control, education, and digitalization in response to demand in Uzbekistan and on the basis of Korea's strengths in those fields.

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To help Uzbekistan combat infectious diseases, including COVID-19, KOICA will launch a new cooperation project worth $14.15 million to advance the country's diagnostic skills and epidemiological investigation.

In the field of education, the state-run overseas aid agency will grant $10 million to improve curricula, hire teachers and boost research staff at the Tashkent University of Information Technologies and Tashkent Pediatric Medical Institute in cooperation with Kookmin University and Yonsei University.

On Friday, KOICA also signed a record of discussion to provide a grant of $4.5 million to increase the potential of Uzbekistan's IT Park.

Over the past 30 years, more than 30 cooperation projects worth $160 million have been implemented by KOICA in many areas, including education, healthcare and public administration.

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