Korean and Uzbek presidents seek economic cooperation

President Park Geun-hye and Uzbek President Islam Karimov held a summit meeting Tuesday and made a joint statement to deepen strategic bilateral ties.

In his statement, President Karimov supported President Park`s North Korea policy including the Korean Peninsula Trust-building Process and the Dresden Declaration. He also said he supports President Park`s Eurasia Initiative announced in October last year, which will likely allow Korea`s plan to expand economic territory to Eurasia gain momentum. Eurasia Initiative is the second Silk Road plan to connect the Trans Siberian Railway and Trans-Korean Railway to build transport channel from Busan, the nation`s biggest port city, to Europe.

The two heads of states also decided to strengthen economic cooperation. They promised to smoothly carry out the development of the Surgil gas field, the construction of Talimarjan complex thermal power plant and gas liquefying project, all of which amount to 7.8 billion U.S. dollars. President Karimov supported Korean companies` participation in a solar power plant construction in Samarkand. The Korean Presidential Office said Uzbekistan has immense potential of generation of solar power as sun shines for more than 320 days a year in the country.