Uzbekistan, Korea upgrade economic partnership
Its economy, once centrally planned, has been integrated into the global marketplace facilitated by structural transformation and foreign investment.
The country sits on vast reserves of gold, uranium and natural gas deposit, and the government has modernized since 2006 the bulk of its basic industries using a $25 billion national fund.
At the 24th independence anniversary reception at Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Monday, Uzbekistan’s continuing development and deepening ties with Korea were celebrated with over 500 dignitaries, diplomats, businesspersons and students participating.
“Since independence, our economy has grown more than 5.5-fold and per capita income ninefold through market reforms,” Uzbek Ambassador Botirjon Asadov said in a speech. “The ‘Uzbek model’ of development prioritized economic growth, state-led reform, the rule of law, social welfare and piecemeal transition to the market economy.”
According to the embassy, the industrial share of GDP is 25 percent and 60 percent of export products come from high-tech industries. $190 billion accumulated investment, of which $60 billion are foreign, has spurred the development of engineering, electronics, pharmaceutical, automotive, oil and gas, chemical, railway, food and textile sectors.
Free economic zones were established in Navoi, Angren and Djizak regions, and the welfare of elderly and education of young have been given priority, the ambassador added.
Korea’s Minister of Government Administration and Home Affairs Chong Jong-sup said in a speech, “The land of Uzbekistan was the cradle of the Timurid Empire (1370-1507) and the hub of Silk Road that bridged the East and West.”
He added, “Uzbekistan is rising again as a bustling hub of Central Asia with the New Silk Road, with a focus on ICT and logistics industries. Since establishing diplomatic ties in 1992, our two nations have built very close relations in diplomacy, security, energy, infrastructure and transport.”
Over the last 23 years, 14 summit meetings were held, the most recent of which were President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Tashkent in June last year and Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s visit to Seoul in May. The Seoul summit, where both presidents discussed a wide range of regional and commercial issues, produced 60 documents and contracts worth over $7.7 billion.
Over the years, bilateral economic cooperation has created 400 joint ventures in Uzbekistan with the annual trade turnover topping $2 billion. Collaboration in the information communication technology sector has seen an upsurge, driven by the Uzbek government benchmarking Korea’s e-government system.
Uzbek ICT professionals and government officials have received training in Korea, and Korea’s Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs established an E-Government Cooperation Center in Tashkent in February 2013.
A branch of Korea’s Inha University specializing in information technology engineering and computer science engineering was launched in Tashkent in October last year.
The Seoul Park has opened in the capital along with the House of Korean Culture and Arts, helping promotion of Korean heritage in Uzbekistan, where over 190,000 ethnic Koreans have resided since the 1930s. Currently, some 10,000 Uzbek nationals work across Korea’s industrial sites.
Uzbekistan has large reserves of gold, uranium, copper, silver, zinc, tungsten, rare metals, coal, natural gas and fossil minerals, which safeguard the country’s energy security. It also has 20 international transport corridors, including two intercontinental.
Small and medium-sized enterprise activities have steadily grown since the early 1990s, taking up over half of GDP today. High value-added services ― ICT, computers, law, consulting, real estate, brokerage, medicine, insurance and banking ― constitute 20 percent of GDP.
The World Economic Forum ranked Uzbekistan the fifth most rapidly growing economy in the world, and Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings have rated the country’s commercial banks “stable.”
Uzbekistan has over 490 tourism accommodation facilities, including luxury hotels and camping sites, wedged in its high mountains and ancient Silk Road cities. 100 hiking trails interlaced with historical monuments and buildings are open to the public. National company Uzbektourism promotes sightseeing attractions to media representatives and travel agencies around the world each year.
By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)
(责任编辑:资讯)
- 21 Lost and Lonely Cemeteries
- Murray returns with win over Gasquet in Cincinnati Masters
- S. Korea urges China to protect NK defectors' human rights at UN review
- This epic hero of trash removal has gobbled up more than 1 million pounds of garbage
- 微视频广东:在推进中国式现代化建设中走在前列
- How to trademark your TikTok phrase and protect your brand
- Jeff Bridges is perfectly cast in new Uggs commercials
- 粤来越开心!喀什孩子变着花样过“六一”儿童节
- How to watch Mark Zuckerberg's keynote at the Facebook F8 conference
- How do you make safe, cheap nuclear reactors? Bury them a mile deep
- Labor Ministry in hot water for plastic surgery blog post
- Halep earns injury comeback win; Gauff to face Osaka
- N. Korea's foreign minister meets visiting Chinese vice FM: state media
-
Haider all set for Paralympics Ceremony
PARIS:Pakistan's premier athlete at the Paralympics Haider Ali will be representing the country ...[详细] -
Jeff Bridges is perfectly cast in new Uggs commercials
Uggs seems to have decided that the best way to sell its boots and slippers to men is to also convin ...[详细] -
PARIS:Manager Nuno Espirito Santo said Tottenham Hotspur had squandered their early season feelgood ...[详细]
-
ESPN pulls announcer from Virginia broadcast due to name: Robert Lee
A broadcaster for the first home game in the upcoming University of Virginia football season is swit ...[详细] -
Best smart home deals this week
Our top picks:Best smart speaker dealEcho Dot (5th gen) with a free Sengled Smart Color Bulb$49.99 a ...[详细] -
[Best Brand] Dwight School stresses personalized learning
Since arriving in Seoul three years ago, Dwight School Seoul has been emphasizing the importance of ...[详细] -
A certain 'Game of Thrones' character may be rowing back into our lives
Game of Thronesfans, think back. All the way back to Season 3, when a young man named Gendry rowed o ...[详细] -
S. Korea urges China to protect NK defectors' human rights at UN review
This photo provided by UN Web TV shows Yun Seong-deok, South Korea's Ambassador to the U.N. office i ...[详细] -
North Korea says it conducted important test to develop multiple warhead missile
A trail of what appears to be a North Korean missile launch is seen from Incheon. North Kore on June ...[详细] -
Here's yet another way Google Photos is better than Apple Photos
Google Photos continues to blow away the competition.The two-year-old service is easily the best fre ...[详细]
US to oppose North Korean worker dispatch to occupied Ukrainian territory: State Dept.
NFL to let players write messages on cleats, but only for one week
- To Russia, with Love
- 'Doctors say it was a miracle I survived skull fracture'
- S. Korea blacklists foreigners with ties to N. Korea
- S. Korea to begin preparation for disposal of spent nuclar fuel
- 'Metaphor: ReFantazio' hands
- World's largest flow battery connected to the grid in China
- Korean character spotted on missile Russia fired into Ukraine: report