Nine government cooperation agreements, 116 private-sector MOUs signed on sidelines of Korea-Central Asia summit

President Lee Jae Myung (third from right) poses for a photo with leaders attending the first Korea-Central Asia Summit at a Seoul hotel on Wednesday. From left: Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Lee, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov and Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedov. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung (third from right) poses for a photo with leaders attending the first Korea-Central Asia Summit at a Seoul hotel on Wednesday. From left: Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Lee, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov and Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedov. [Yonhap]

South Korea and the five Central Asian nations gathered their industry ministries together for the first time in 34 years of diplomatic relations, agreeing to strengthen cooperation on industry and critical mineral supply chains. Both sides committed to institutionalizing a supply chain cooperation framework and expanding collaboration across industrial sectors, including critical minerals.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Thursday it signed nine cooperation agreements with the governments of the five Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — on the sidelines of the first Korea-Central Asia Summit, held in Seoul from Monday through Wednesday.

On the private-sector side, a total of 116 MOUs were signed, laying out concrete plans for South Korean companies to enter Central Asian markets.

During the same period, the ministry hosted a series of business events, including the first Korea-Central Asia Industry Ministers' Meeting, a Korea-Kazakhstan business roundtable, a Korea-Uzbekistan business forum, a Korea-Turkmenistan business forum and the first Korea-Central Asia Business Summit.

While South Korea has maintained bilateral consultation channels with each Central Asian country individually, this marked the first time in 34 years of diplomatic ties that it discussed industrial and critical mineral supply chain cooperation with all five nations together.

At the industry ministers' meeting held Monday, South Korea and the five Central Asian nations signed an MOU on industrial and supply chain cooperation.

In addition, the ministry signed eight bilateral cooperation documents tailored to the industrial conditions and economic needs of each country, on the sidelines of bilateral summits.

With Kazakhstan, the two sides signed a basic crude oil cooperation agreement to strengthen collaboration across the oil value chain, including oilfield development and petrochemicals. They also signed an MOU on nuclear energy cooperation to build a foundation for full-cycle nuclear power plant collaboration.

With Kyrgyzstan, the two sides revised an existing trade and investment cooperation MOU to expand the scope of cooperation into new areas such as critical minerals, halal industries and digital transformation, and agreed to establish a regular director-general-level consultation channel.

With Tajikistan, the two countries signed their first-ever industrial cooperation MOU since establishing diplomatic relations, covering everything from mining and critical minerals to AI and emerging technologies. With Turkmenistan, they signed an MOU on chemical industry and plant cooperation.

With Uzbekistan, the ministry signed an MOU to establish a full-cycle critical mineral cooperation platform centered on a rare metals center for processing and exploration, along with MOUs on manufacturing AI transformation and export capacity-building.

At the bilateral business events held Tuesday, companies and institutions signed a string of MOUs. The Korea-Kazakhstan event produced 78 agreements covering areas such as gas processing plant construction and petrochemical factory scale-up, while the Korea-Uzbekistan and Korea-Turkmenistan forums yielded five and 14 MOUs, respectively.

An additional 19 MOUs were signed at the Business Summit on Wednesday. The ministry said it would take all necessary follow-up measures to ensure that both the government cooperation documents and private-sector MOUs translate into actual contracts and investment outcomes.

Plans call for regularizing the newly established industry ministers' meeting and using working-level consultative bodies to periodically review the progress of key projects. The ministry also intends to work with South Korean diplomatic missions in Central Asia and KOTRA trade offices to resolve difficulties faced by South Korean companies in the region.


oskymoon@heraldcorp.com