Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Held in Busan ... Park Hyung-jun, Busan Mayor, Engages in Negotiations for Busan World Expo Bid

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan City will hold the ‘2022 15th Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum’ at 10 a.m. on the 25th at the Paradise Hotel in Haeundae to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Central Asia.

The five Central Asian countries are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. To promote practical cooperation in economic, cultural, and educational fields with these countries, a public-private-academic annual consultative body was established in 2007 under the leadership of the Korean government, and since the 14th forum in 2021, it has been held at the ministerial level.

At the forum, more than 250 people will attend, including foreign ministers and delegations from the five Central Asian countries, heads of diplomatic missions in Korea, Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon, Foreign Minister Park Jin, businesspeople, and academics.

The forum will proceed in the order of the opening remarks by Foreign Minister Park Jin, a welcome speech by Mayor Park Hyung-joon, a keynote speech by the Central Asian foreign ministers, and session presentations.

Under the theme ‘Korea-Central Asia, a Journey Together Toward a Better Future,’ the forum will explore mutual understanding and comprehensive cooperation plans for the future through sectoral sessions on health, digital projects, tourism, environment, and economic security.

Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon plans to actively conduct negotiation activities to attract the 2030 Busan World Expo at this forum.

Before the forum, one-on-one bilateral meetings with Central Asian ministers will be held to discuss ways to strengthen practical cooperation and expand mutual exchanges in various fields such as industry, education, energy, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and transportation, and to request their support for the 2030 Busan World Expo bid.

Through these bilateral meetings, Busan plans to expand cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries in various fields and create an opportunity to seek a new future with the five Central Asian countries under the ‘2030 Busan World Expo.’

Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon said, “Exchanges between the five Central Asian countries and Busan are growing stronger day by day,” and added, “We will share Busan’s development experience with the Central Asian countries.”

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