Yoon Meets with Kazakh Prime Minister Bektenov: "MOU Must Lead to Concrete Results"

"Support for the Korea-Kazakhstan Economic Cooperation Special Working Group"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is meeting with Kazakh Prime Minister Alzhas Bektenov in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the morning of the 13th (local time). [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 13th (local time), President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Kazakhstan Prime Minister Olzhas Bektanov as the final schedule of his visit to Kazakhstan, exchanging broad opinions on concrete measures to expand cooperation between the two countries.

President Yoon introduced various cooperation plans to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, discussed during the summit with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev the previous day, and expressed hope to further concretize mutually beneficial cooperation in infrastructure and key minerals sectors going forward.

President Yoon said, "Korean companies have great interest in entering Kazakhstan, our largest trading and investment partner in Central Asia and a leading economy in the region," adding, "I hope that Korean companies will participate more actively in Kazakhstan's major national projects and continue to contribute to Kazakhstan's economic development."

He also mentioned that establishing a strengthened partnership between the two countries in the key minerals supply chain sector is one of the major achievements of this state visit, expressing hope that the memorandums of understanding (MOUs) signed in the key minerals sector will lead to concrete results.

President Yoon stated, "The 120,000 ethnic Koreans actively engaged in various sectors of Kazakhstani society have been an important driving force in the development of bilateral relations," and requested the Kazakhstani government to actively support the ethnic Korean community so that they can continue to faithfully serve as a bridge between the two countries.

President Yoon urged, "As Korea and Kazakhstan have agreed to demonstrate responsible leadership on regional and global issues through this state visit, I ask Prime Minister Bektanov to pay special attention to ensuring that the follow-up measures of this summit are steadily implemented."

Prime Minister Bektanov said, "I believe President Yoon's state visit has become an important opportunity to further develop the Korea-Kazakhstan strategic partnership," and added, "We will spare no support at the working level to ensure that close and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries continues to expand and deepen."

In particular, Prime Minister Bektanov expressed hope to promote comprehensive cooperation with Korea across the stages of exploration, extraction, refining, and utilization of Kazakhstan's rare earths and key minerals. He also said, "We will continue to support the approximately 700 Korean companies operating in Kazakhstan through the 'Korea-Kazakhstan Economic Cooperation Special Working Group' to enable more active activities," adding, "I hope this will lead to the training and exchange of professionals between the two countries."

Prime Minister Bektanov responded, "We will actively strive at the government level to ensure that the ethnic Korean community, an important component of Kazakhstani society, can continue to contribute to the development of bilateral relations."

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