The memorandum of understanding was sealed during Finance Minister Kwon Okyu’s visit to Uzbekistan, where he met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov to discuss means of boosting economic ties, according to the Finance Ministry.

The two officials also promised to continue cooperation in various fields of joint interest, including energy, automobile and information technology.

Korea lends money to developing nations through its Economic Development and Cooperation Fund (EDCF) with outstanding loans exceeding US$2 billion. The Korean government said earlier in the year that it plans to hand out a total of US$2.6 billion in EDCF loans to developing nations throughout Asia and Africa in the next four years.