UNJournal Lee Sung Jun | South Korea and Uzbekistan have launched full-scale preparations for expanded bilateral economic cooperation ahead of the 1st Korea-Central Asia Summit, scheduled for September 16 and 17 in Seoul, convening a high-level business roundtable on August 11 at Lotte Hotel Seoul to identify concrete projects for discussion at the upcoming leaders' summit.

The Korea-Uzbekistan Business Roundtable brought together senior government officials and key business representatives from both countries, serving as a preliminary economic coordination forum ahead of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's visit to Korea — expected to be accompanied by an economic delegation of approximately 200 people.

A Platform for Concrete Results

The event was attended on the Uzbek side by Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khojayev and other high-ranking government officials. Korean participants included government representatives and executives from major companies such as Hyundai Motor Group, Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), GS E&C, LX International, SK Nexilis, and Lotte Hotels & Resorts.

Deputy Prime Minister Khojayev outlined Uzbekistan's ambition to attain upper-middle-income country status by 2030, describing the active steps his government is taking to improve the investment environment and attract foreign capital. He identified infrastructure, critical minerals, automobiles, artificial intelligence, and the digital industry as the primary areas for bilateral cooperation, and called on Korean companies to actively invest in data centres, digital technology, green industries, and renewable energy — sectors central to Uzbekistan's nationally mandated AI and digital development plan.

Proposals were also made to expand cooperation in health and medical services, including hospital construction and the establishment of pharmaceutical industry clusters.

Shared Vision for Mutual Growth

South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yeo Han-koo described Uzbekistan as a key economic cooperation partner for Korea, expressing his hope that the roundtable discussions would strengthen mutual understanding on trade, investment, supply chains, and economic cooperation, and serve as a meaningful foundation for the successful hosting of the Korea-Central Asia Summit.

Director General Moon Ji-sung for International Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Finance and Economy added that combining Korea's technological capability and financial strength with Uzbekistan's abundant natural resources and growth potential could enable both economies to achieve a new leap forward together.

The overarching vision articulated at the roundtable positions Uzbekistan's natural resource wealth and demographic potential as complementary to Korea's industrial expertise, technology, and capital — a combination organisers argued could unlock new growth engines for both sides.

A Dense Cooperation Agenda

Participants held intensive discussions across a broad range of sectors, including industry, energy, critical minerals, AI, digital transformation, health and medical care, pharmaceuticals, logistics, automobiles, infrastructure, and renewable energy. A key outcome of the meeting was consensus on plans to develop select projects into concrete investment and cooperation initiatives prior to the September summit — moving beyond expressions of intent toward actionable deliverables.

The 1st Korea-Central Asia Summit will bring together the leaders of five Central Asian nations: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Korea and Uzbekistan, which have elevated their relationship to a Special Strategic Partnership, are using the occasion to simultaneously deepen existing cooperation in energy, transport, and infrastructure while expanding into future-oriented industries including critical minerals, AI, digital technology, health, pharmaceuticals, climate response, and agriculture.

The business roundtable is widely assessed as going beyond routine business-to-business exchange — it is seen as a vehicle for concretising the economic agenda of the September Korea-Uzbekistan bilateral summit and preparing measurable outcomes for what Seoul hopes will mark a new chapter in its economic diplomacy with Central Asia.