Korea-Turkmen Promise to Expand Economic Cooperation: "Discover New Projects in Shipbuilding, ICT, and Railways"

Minister Sung Yun-mo of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is delivering opening remarks at the 'Automobile Finance Support On-site Meeting' held on the 15th at Korea FT in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. / Seongnam = Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] South Korea and Turkmenistan have pledged to expand economic exchanges. They agreed to discover new cooperative projects in sectors including transportation infrastructure improvement, shipbuilding, ICT, and railways.

On the 24th, Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, held a video conference with Muratgeldi Meredov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan, who is the chief representative of the bilateral economic joint committee.

This video conference was conducted through the official cooperation channel between the two countries, the 'Korea-Turkmen Economic Joint Committee,' amid restricted human movement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The two countries discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation and the activities of Korean companies securing orders in Turkmenistan.

First, both sides evaluated the bus supply contract for 400 buses (worth 60 million USD) signed in March between Korean companies and the Turkmen Transport Authority as a concrete achievement of bilateral economic cooperation. They agreed to continue cooperating on Turkmenistan’s transportation infrastructure improvement projects going forward.

They also shared the view that maintaining trade and investment between the two countries and expanding economic exchanges are crucial to minimizing the negative impact of COVID-19.

In this regard, they confirmed that ongoing cooperative projects in traditional manufacturing sectors such as textiles, as well as in plant, land, and healthcare sectors, must proceed without disruption. Additionally, they agreed to discover new cooperative projects in shipbuilding, ICT, and railway sectors.

Minister Sung said, "Major projects delayed at the contract negotiation stage due to COVID-19 should be concluded promptly," and added, "We request the Turkmen government’s attention and support so that Korean companies can participate in newly ordered projects such as seawater desalination plants."

Projects currently under contract negotiation between Korean companies and Turkmen government agencies include the sales rights of products from the Kiyanly plant (230 million USD annually), Kiyanly plant O&M (300 million USD), and the land informatization infrastructure construction project (8.35 million USD).

Minister Sung emphasized, "For the smooth progress of bilateral economic cooperation projects and the stable business activities of Korean companies operating in Turkmenistan, cooperation from the Turkmen government is necessary regarding the entry and exit of Korean businesspeople."

Deputy Prime Minister Meredov said, "We consider Korea, which has industrial development experience and technology, a good partner for Turkmenistan," and added, "Joint efforts are needed to promote cooperative projects responding to COVID-19 and to resolve difficulties faced by Korean companies."

Meanwhile, the two countries have decided to hold the '8th Korea-Turkmen Economic Joint Committee' in the second half of this year to expand mutually beneficial economic cooperation and produce tangible results.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.