Mirziyoyev puts forward 5 strategic areas of cooperation between Central Asian countries, S. Korea

TASHKENT. Sept 16 (Interfax) - Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has set forth five strategic areas of cooperation at the inaugural Central Asia - South Korea summit in Seoul on Wednesday.

"Combining the immense potential of Central Asia and the Republic of Korea could open up new avenues for building a mutually beneficial partnership," Mirziyoyev was quoted in a statement released by the Uzbek presidential press service.

In this regard, he has put forward proposals covering five strategic areas of cooperation.

The first area involves establishing a long-term planning horizon for the partnership. In particular, new demands are emerging regarding education, infrastructure, technology, and human capital.

To address these challenges, he proposed developing a long-term Central Asia - Republic of Korea: Partnership for Accelerated Development Conceptual Vision. Securing the digital future through joint efforts toward setting up mechanisms for the early detection and prevention of cyber threats is also a key focus.

The second area focuses on integrating trade, economic, and investment capabilities within a unified business framework.

"The leader of Uzbekistan supported the initiative to establish a platform for meetings of ministers responsible for industry and trade, which will enable the participating countries to jointly identify effective solutions for significantly increasing mutual trade and bringing trade between the countries of the region and South Korea to $20 billion by 2030," the statement said.

The third area aims to usher in a new era of cooperation regarding critical minerals.

"Given the rapidly growing global demand for these valuable resources and the region's vast reserves of critical minerals, Central Asia has the potential to become one of the world's leading suppliers," Mirziyoyev said.

In this regard, he proposed establishing a Regional Investment Alliance for Critical Minerals, which aims at creating robust processing clusters in the region that encompass the entire production cycle from geological exploration and extraction to deep processing and the manufacture of high-value-added goods.

The fourth area of cooperation stems from the need for promoting green development and enhancing climate change adaptation. With the aim to combine complementary capabilities, Mirziyoyev proposed launching a Climate and Carbon Partnership between Central Asia and South Korea.

The fifth area focuses on joint efforts to unlock the potential of the younger generation, it said.