Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Seoul will host the first South Korea-Central Asia summit next week, bringing together the leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, the South Korean presidential administration said.
The summit will be held on Wednesday under the theme “Directions for Cooperation and Partnership between South Korea and Central Asia to Strengthen Innovation, Prosperity and Connectivity.”
Kang Yu-jung, a spokesperson for the presidential administration, said one of the key objectives of the meeting would be to help diversify global supply chains by combining Central Asian countries’ reserves of critical minerals and energy resources with South Korea’s expertise in exploration and processing.
Seoul also plans to help South Korean companies enter the markets of Central Asian countries, taking into account their needs for infrastructure and industrial equipment. The sides are expected to develop cooperation in customs regulation, legal and regulatory matters, and intellectual property protection.
The summit will also focus on cooperation related to the Korean Peninsula and combating transnational crime, including terrorism, drug trafficking and cybercrime.
Kang said the summit would be South Korea’s first multilateral leaders-level meeting with the Central Asian countries. She described the event as an important starting point for expanding Seoul’s diplomatic presence in the region.
South Korea also plans to broaden cooperation with Central Asian countries, which is currently focused largely on resources and infrastructure, to include artificial intelligence, science and technology, climate change and other advanced sectors.
As part of the summit, the existing regional cooperation mechanism is expected to be upgraded from the ministerial level to the level of heads of state. A “Seoul Declaration” setting out a long-term vision for cooperation will also be presented, along with a new mechanism for multilateral interaction.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will hold bilateral talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Monday. On Tuesday, he will hold separate talks with the leaders of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, followed on Wednesday by meetings with the leaders of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
After the summit, Lee will take part in a business summit with the five Central Asian heads of state. The meeting will focus on strengthening business ties between South Korean and Central Asian companies and identifying new areas of cooperation.
