Prime Minister Han Seung-soo welcomed the conference, saying that expanding bilateral economic cooperation would contribute to overcoming the current global economic trouble.

Uzbekistan’s First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov delivered Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s welcoming message.

The Uzbek President is known to have driven establishment of the economic zone in Navoi in an attempt to attract foreign investors, especially from Korean companies, long-standing investors in the Central Asian country.

Galina Saidova, Uzbekistan’s first deputy minister of economy, said as far as the economic zone is concerned, the Uzbek government has placed priority on Korea.

“(That’s why) we came here, to explain what investment opportunities are available for Koreans,” she told The Korea Times.

The Embassy of Uzbekistan in Seoul estimated the number of participants in the conference exceeded expectations.

“The initial projection was only 400 to 500 at maximum,” an embassy official said.

The range of participants was wide - from large Korean companies such as Daewoo International, Korean Air and Korea National Oil Corp. to medium- and small-sized logistics, recycling and animal drug-producing companies.

The huge participation was a reflection of Koreans’ growing interest in the Central Asian country, industry sources said.

The Central Asian country is blessed with a variety of natural resources. Not only oil and gas, but all kinds of minerals, and even rare ones, are found. It has active textile and mining industries, and its location is strategically important.

In addition, the big crowd was the result of the Uzbek government’s tireless effort to attract Korean investors, sources said.

The conference was an exclusive one, taking place only in Korea.

Korea’s status in the Uzbek economy comes with an interesting background.

It relied on Korean business, especially Daewoo Motors, one of the single-biggest Korean investors in Uzbekistan.

A Korean participant, identified as Kim, and from a shipping firm, said one has to study the history of Daewoo first to understand the economy of Uzbekistan.

The influence and reputation of Daewoo is very positive in Uzbekistan, said Kim, who spent a year in Uzbekistan on business.

Now, the total amount of Korean direct investment has exceeded US$2 billion. Uzbekistan has loans of US$107 million through the Export-Import Bank of Korea.