Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on ensuring the implementation of agreements between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Uzbekistan reached during bilateral events at the highest and high levels was held in the format of a videoconference.

The co-chairs of the groups created following the state visit of the President of the Republic of Korea Mr. Moon Jae In to Uzbekistan in April 2019 were the newly appointed Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea Na Seung Shik and First Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov.

A significant place on the agenda of the event was taken by joint measures to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic and global crisis phenomena on the economies of both countries.

Mechanisms for establishing close cooperation were discussed in order to minimize the risks of delays in the implementation of large joint investment projects in the fields of healthcare and pharmaceuticals, education, the ICT sector, digitalization of industry, water supply, production of electric vehicles and agricultural machinery.

The parties highly appreciated the dynamics of investment cooperation, which testifies to the growing interest of Korean business in working in Uzbekistan. An agreement was reached on the continuation of practical actions for the implementation of previously agreed new projects worth about US$3.4 billion.

An increase in the volume of mutual trade was also noted. So, in the first half of this year, the volume of exports of domestic products to Korea from Uzbekistan increased by 17% compared to the same period last year.

The parties agreed to continue cooperation to expand the access of Uzbek agricultural products to the Korean market. Special attention was paid to the prospects for concluding a Free Trade Agreement between Uzbekistan and Korea. It was also announced that the Korean side will continue to assist Uzbekistan in the process of joining the WTO.

As a result of the negotiations, an agreement was reached to continue the practice of holding quarterly consultations in order to discuss further steps to accelerate the implementation of joint projects and programs.