Samarkand and Gyeongju become sister cities

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Samarkand city of Uzbekistan and Gyeongju of South Korea signed a memorandum of friendship and cooperation, the information service of Samarkand regional administration said.

Governor of Samarkand city Akbar Shukurov and head of the North Gyeongsang province Kim Kwan-yong signed the document.

During the ceremony, Akbar Shukurov said that Samarkand plays a key role in social, economic and spiritual life in Uzbekistan. He said that expansion of friendly relations between two cities will serve to development of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea.

Republic of Korea was one of the first countries in the Asian-Pacific region, which recognized independence of Uzbekistan. Cooperation between two countries are actively developing in recent years.

South Korean city became the twelfth sister city of Samarkand. The sister-cities of Samarkand are Liege (Belgium), Lyon (France), Lahore (Pakistan), Plovdiv (Bulgaria), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Banda Aceh (Indonesia), Kiev (Ukraine), Bremen (Germany), Krasnoyarsk, Samara (Russia ), and the province of Florence (Italy).