S. Korea to export high-speed rail sets to Uzbekistan, establish critical minerals cooperation

KTX 개통 20년 만에 고속철 42량 우즈베크에 수출… 2천700억원 규모, 한-우즈벡 핵심광물공급망 협력체제 설치

Good evening. Thank you for joining us. I'm Yoon Jung-min.
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday held a bilateral summit with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev, during his state visit to the Central Asian country, the third and final stop of his week-long tour of the region.
The highlight of the leaders' meeting was the signing of multiple agreements aimed at deepening cooperation across various sectors.
The leaders jointly announced the outcomes of their summit about half an hour ago, and we have our correspondent Oh Soo-young in the Uzbek capital to fill us in on the main points.


Q1.
Sooyoung, it's great to have you with us. Let's begin with the major outcomes of the South Korea-Uzbekistan Summit.

Hi Jung-min. Indeed, the leaders oversaw the signing of 15 agreements after their bilateral summit, beginning with some hefty deals inked in the infrastructure and energy sectors.
First, Seoul and Tashkent will bolster support for Korean firms as they work on orders for national projects in Uzbekistan, including Korea's export of high-speed rail vehicles.
Hyundai signed a deal with Uzbekistan's rail authority, to supply six high-speed rail sets to the Central Asian country in a contract worth 270 billion won, or 195 million U.S dollars, to supply a total of 42 cars for high-speed trains at a speed of 250 kilometers per hour along with repair and maintenance services.
Upon the 20th anniversary of Korea's high-speed rail line KTX, it will mark the first time Korea supplies its technology overseas.
Korea will further work with Uzbek authorities to modernize the Central Asian country's heating system, by sharing the South Korean model.
This would pave the way for the entry of Korean construction and plumbing businesses.
Another major outcome is South Korea and Uzbekistan solidifying their partnership on rare earth minerals, including tungsten and molybdenum, which are vital for industries such as semiconductors and batteries -South Korea's foremost tech industries.
The two sides will establish a comprehensive cooperation system from the stages of exploration to the development, refining, smelting, and utilization of minerals.
Korean firms will also have the opportunity to participate in development and production ahead of other competitors if the economic viability of a mineral is confirmed.
The two sides will also produce facilities for high-purity rare metal products, and create a new database management system to jointly strengthen the supply chain of critical minerals.

Q2. President Yoon also emphasized the need to reinforce the two countries' Special Strategic Partnership.

That's right. The aim is to expand the fields of cooperation and facilitate stronger mutually beneficial partnerships, according to the President.
To further help Korean firms make inroads into Uzbek industries, Seoul will back Uzbekistan's bid to join the World Trade Organisation as that would stabilize their business prospects in the country.
The two sides also agreed to expand financing options for Korean companies looking to export automobiles, auto parts, machinery, and equipment.
To diversify the fields of economic cooperation, Korea will ramp up its concessional financing to Uzbekistan, doubling the amount from 1 billion U.S. dollars from 2021 to 2023, to 2 billion beginning this year.
Such funds would contribute to future-oriented projects such as building a pharmaceutical cluster in Uzbekistan, and increasing its drug self-sufficiency.
With Uzbekistan's young and dynamic population, Korea will also help nurture a skilled workforce through technological training, and vocational centers.
It has already trained some 11-thousand-700 people over the past 11 years, through development assistance projects in five regions across Uzbekistan.
Korea and Uzbekistan will also boost military cooperation to go beyond education and training to cover cyber security and defense technology.
Now, upon the five-year milestone of their Special Strategic Partnership, the two countries will take their cooperation further to the regional level with South Korea having launched its K-Silk Road Initiative which aims to bolster partnerships with Central Asian countries on economic security, development and culture...

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2024-06-14, 18:00 (KST)