Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Akhmetov met South Korean President Park Geon-hye during an official visit to South Korea on Dec. 10 to discuss developing bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
“We have made significant progress in this direction, as evidenced by the dynamics of our bilateral trade, the volume of which over nine months of this year exceeded $1 billion. We intend to continue to increase the rate of turnover,” Akhmetov said during the meeting according to his press service.
He noted that Kazakhstan and South Korea had implemented a number of large-scale joint projects, including the construction of the Balkhash Thermal Power Plant and a chemical complex in the Atyrau region and the development of Zhambyl oil field.
“I am confident that the implementation of these major projects will contribute to the development of Kazakhstan’s economy and will significantly enhance investment and technological cooperation between the two countries,” said the prime minister.
Akhmetov also conveyed Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s best wishes to President Park and invited her to pay an official visit to Kazakhstan in 2014.
The South Korean leader praised the level of bilateral cooperation and called for further deepening of the countries’ ties across the entire spectrum of bilateral relations.
“Kazakhstan is one of Korea’s main partners in the Eurasian space,” she emphasised during their meeting.
Park also noted South Korea’s experience in holding international expositions and expressed willingness to share their extensive experience in organising such events with Kazakhstan.
During his visit, Akhmetov also met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and Finance of South Korea Hyun Oh Seok. The sides discussed the prospects for mutually beneficial projects in various sectors of the economy, including transport engineering, renewable energy, high technologies and light industry.
Akhmetov noted the current intensity of trade and economic cooperation and stressed the need to further strengthen and expand mutually beneficial ties.
“Kazakhstan is committed to sustainable growth through accelerated industrial-innovative development. We are interested in mutually beneficial investment and technological cooperation with Korea,” he said.
In addition, Akhmetov expressed interest in studying the Korean experience of hosting EXPO 2012 in Yeosu and invited Korean companies to participate in EXPO 2017 in Astana.
Following the meeting, a number of bilateral documents were signed, including an agreement between the two governments on cooperation and mutual administrative assistance in customs matters and a memorandum of understanding between Samruk Energy and South Korea’s Hyundai and Samruk Green Energy and Hyundai’s subsidiaries.
In addition, the sides signed a memorandum of understanding between the Chambers of Commerce of Kazakhstan and South Korea.
In Seoul, Akhmetov attended Samsung’s D-Light exhibition complex to learn about its innovative technologies.
