South Korea, Central Asia determine new areas of cooperation
24/04/2014 15:29
South Korea, Central Asia determine new areas of cooperation
24/04/2014 15:29
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The 8th Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum took place on April 22 at Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul. The Forum brought together around 150 people, including delegations of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), led by the Vice Foreign Ministers, as well as leading figures and experts from industry, academia, and the private and public sectors.
In the latest Forum, the participants had comprehensive and detailed discussions on a range of areas for cooperation between the ROK and Central Asia. They especially focused on ways for cooperation projects not to be discussed just once but to continue to be reviewed, implemented and developed further within the framework of the Forum.
In this regard, the participants discussed specific cooperation projects in each of four areas for cooperation – healthcare, agriculture, environment and forestry.
On healthcare, they discussed U-health system projects utilizing Korea’s IT technologies and medical personnel training programs. On environment, they discussed the ROK government’s area-specific consulting projects to address environmental issues in Central Asia, including climate change and waste. On agriculture, they discussed ways to improve methods of growing tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables through overseas agricultural technology centers, as well as cooperation measures to increase farmland productivity. On forestry, they discussed a concrete roadmap for cooperation to create a forest biodiversity preservation system tailored to the needs of Central Asia.
The latest Forum holds big significance in that the participants identified new areas for cooperation, such as environment, and continued discussions on forestry and other areas which were on the agenda of last year’s forum.
The participants reviewed progress in implementing cooperation projects in forestry, railway and textile, which were discussed in the 7th Forum. They also decided to conduct various other projects step by step, including the first ROK-Central Asia seminar on railway cooperation, the establishment of a textile technology park, and projects to restore the Aral Sea forest ecosystem.
Furthermore, the participants agreed to start consultations on the creation of an ROK-Central Asia cooperation secretariat between the ROK and the five Central Asian countries.
On the sidelines of the Forum, First Vice Minister Cho Tae-yong held separate bilateral meetings with the Vice Foreign Ministers of the five Central Asian countries. He discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
The latest Forum was meaningful in that it laid the foundation for implementing the Eurasia Initiative, which is one of the ROK government’s key policy tasks, and strengthened the institutional base for cooperation in the Forum, which has been held eight times.
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