President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov on the invitation of the President of the Republic of Korea Lee Myung-Bak leaves for Korea on a 3-day state visit on 10 February.

During the visit the sides will discuss issues of expanding and deepening Uzbek-Korean cooperation, actual problems of regional and international nature of mutual interest.

On the outcomes of talks in Seoul the sides are expected to sign a number of bilateral documents aimed at deepening the interaction of the two states in various areas.

Seoul recognized the Independence of Uzbekistan on 30 December 1991 and established diplomatic relations on 29 January 1992. Since that nine high level meetings between the Leaders of both republics have taken place.

In accordance with the Trade Agreement of 1992, the most favored nation treatment was achieved. South Korea occupies a leading position among trade partners of Uzbekistan in Asian-Pacific. According to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, in the third quarter of 2009 the trade turnover increased by 7% and accounted for 7 million, export of Uzbekistan - .4 million, import - 5.6 million.

In the last years Korean companies are actively participating in various projects in the territory of Uzbekistan, including the implementation of oil and gas fields and construction of gas-chemical complexes, construction of residential and commercial complexes, in the privatization processes be means of acquiring assets of enterprises; in the establishment of joint ventures in textile and other fields of economy.

Realization of creating the FIEZ Navoi is being actively conducted with the participation of South Korean businessmen. One of the main steps in promoting the project on establishing the international logistics center on the basis of Navoi airport was the conference "Navoi FIEZ: new investment opportunities for Korean partners" held in Seoul on 3-5 March 2009.

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