Korea and 5 Central Asian Countries Form First 'Multilateral Economic Consultative Body'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The 'Korea-Central Asia Economic Consultative Body,' agreed upon by Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and the foreign ministers of the five Central Asian countries, was launched on the 29th. It is the first multilateral consultative body involving economic organizations from Korea and Central Asia.

The Korea-Central Asia Economic Consultative Body consists of the Secretariat of the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum, the Korea International Trade Association, and the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the five Central Asian countries. It plans to support business exchange events between Korea and Central Asia, such as one-on-one business consultations and economic forums. The five Central Asian countries are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

At the online signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish the Korea-Central Asia Economic Consultative Body held at COEX on the same day, Kim Geon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kim Young-joo, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, and Kim Sung-in, Secretary-General of the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat, attended. On the Central Asian side, representatives from the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as the representative of the Kazakhstan International Chamber of Commerce, participated online.

In his congratulatory remarks at the signing ceremony, Deputy Minister Kim said, "I consider it meaningful that despite the difficulties in exchanges due to COVID-19, we have achieved the establishment of this consultative body," and added, "The government will actively support so that various cooperative projects between Korea and Central Asia can be discussed through this consultative body."

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