Uzbekistan, Korea to unlock ‘joint leap in development’: president

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has called for a “joint leap in development” with South Korea through deeper cooperation in advanced technology, investment and human capital ahead of this week's inaugural Korea-Central Asia Summit in Seoul.

Uzbekistan hopes the first Korea-Central Asia Summit on Wednesday will deliver “breakthrough agreements” on investment, Mirziyoyev said in a written interview with The Korea Herald.

At the six way summit, Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are expected to adopt a Seoul Declaration outlining a long-term framework for cooperation.

Seoul aims to combine Central Asia’s critical minerals and energy resources with Korean technology while expanding cooperation in infrastructure, AI, digital technology, climate and other emerging sectors.

South Korea holds particular importance as Uzbekistan pursues its “Uzbekistan 2030” Strategy and builds what Mirziyoyev calls a “New Uzbekistan” — his vision for a modern, open and developed country centered on human dignity, rights and opportunities.

Citing Seoul's modernization experience and “consistent and practical support,” Mirziyoyev said the two economies offered complementary strengths.

“This will make it possible to unlock new growth points and reach a qualitatively new level in our partnership — for a ‘joint leap in development,’” he said, using the words of President Lee Jae-myung.

Mirziyoyev recalled his first meeting with Lee on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 23 last year, saying they established a “sincere and fruitful dialogue.”

Mirziyoyev pointed to the scale of existing economic ties as a base for further growth.

Trade has increased fivefold in recent years and accumulated Korean investment has exceeded $8 billion, according to Mirziyoyev.

The two countries have more than 700 joint enterprises and projects, while Uzbekistan's project portfolio with KOICA, the Export-Import Bank of Korea and related funds exceeds $3.5 billion.

Korean companies including Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Kia, KOGAS and Lotte operate across sectors ranging from industry and transport to health care and digital infrastructure.

Mirziyoyev also pointed to Uzbekistan's economic transformation. Its economy has grown more than 2.5 times over the past decade, industry now accounts for 30 percent of GDP and its domestic market is approaching 40 million people.

Those shifts form part of Tashkent's case for attracting Korean investment into higher-value production rather than simply expanding trade.

Against that backdrop, Mirziyoyev identified artificial intelligence, critical materials and semiconductors, robotics, electric transport, biopharmaceuticals, modern chemistry, smart agriculture and intelligent cities among promising areas for future cooperation.

He called for moving beyond cooperation in individual sectors toward “common production systems, technological platforms and new markets.”

Uzbekistan is seeking deeper integration into global value chains and wants Korean companies to establish more high-value production in the country, Mirziyoyev said.

The approach would use Korean investment not simply as an inflow of capital but to build domestic technological and industrial capacity and connect Uzbekistan more closely with Korean production networks.

Mirziyoyev also linked stronger bilateral ties to wider Korea-Central Asia cooperation.

“Our strategic partnership is moving beyond the framework of bilateral interaction,” he said.

Uzbekistan plans to bring proposals to the summit aimed at expanding political and economic cooperation and creating new mechanisms for longer-term cooperation between South Korea and Central Asia, Mirziyoyev said.

That push comes as Central Asia itself becomes more closely connected. Mirziyoyev pointed to stronger trust among countries in the region over the past decade, alongside growing trade, energy and transport links and cross-border cooperation.

Central Asian economies are growing at average rates exceeding 7 percent, while their combined GDP surpassed $500 billion in 2025.

The region's location at the heart of Eurasia also gives it the potential to develop new transregional value chains and shorter transport and transit corridors linking major markets, he said.

“The Republic of Korea can play a special role,” Mirziyoyev said, citing its industrial capabilities, capital and modernization experience.

He specifically pointed to the scale at which Korean chaebols invest, saying they look beyond individual national markets to the combined advantages of the wider region.

The approach increasingly casts Central Asia as a regional economic proposition for Korean companies rather than a collection of separate national markets.

Mirziyoyev placed human capital alongside investment and technology as another priority.

Uzbekistan wants deeper cooperation with Korean universities and research centers through joint educational programs, academic exchanges and advanced research and development centers, he said.

“No technologies can replace the human being,” Mirziyoyev said.

“The earlier young people from our countries begin cooperating with one another, exchanging experience and knowledge, the stronger the human ties will become,” he said.

The younger generation, he predicted, would become the “main link and driving force of the future Uzbek-Korean partnership.”

Mirziyoyev also pointed to shared values, including the importance both societies place on family, respect for elders, hard work and determination.

“A lone rider's horse kicks up no dust,” he said, citing an Uzbek proverb alongside the Korean expression, “Even a sheet of paper is lighter when lifted together.”

Mirziyoyev traced Uzbek-Korean ties to exchanges along the Great Silk Road, pointing to the Afrosiyob Palace fresco in Samarkand as a symbol of ancient contacts between Central Asia and the Korean Peninsula.

He also highlighted Uzbekistan's large Koryo-saram community as a more tangible modern link, saying it has contributed to the country's development while strengthening ties between Tashkent and Seoul.

“Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea are not merely long-standing and time-tested partners, but also close friends,” Mirziyoyev said.

Looking ahead to the summit, Mirziyoyev described it as the “starting point of a new stage of strategic partnership,” pointing to investment, infrastructure, innovation and cultural ties as areas for deeper cooperation.

“We hope to reach breakthrough agreements on expanding investment cooperation,” Mirziyoyev said.

The summit will therefore test whether nearly two decades of Korea-Central Asia dialogue can translate into more institutionalized economic cooperation and concrete investment projects.

He also backed Lee's efforts to resume inter-Korean dialogue and promote lasting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

But Mirziyoyev stressed that relations ultimately depend on ties between people as much as agreements between governments.

“Relations between states become truly strong when they are based not only on political agreements and economic interests, but also on trust between people,” he said.

Addressing Korean readers, Mirziyoyev invited them to visit Uzbekistan not only as tourists but as partners, entrepreneurs and students.

“Uzbekistan ... is a country that must be seen and felt,” he said.

“I sincerely believe that Central Asia and the Republic of Korea are capable of forming a new space of cooperation — of peace, innovation, mutual trust and shared prosperity,” Mirziyoyev said.