New perspectives in the international arena

April 06, 2007

Representatives of large companies, firms and businesses firmly established in the international arena are showing increasing interest in the business environment of Uzbekistan, which has rich stocks of raw materials. Notably, the most interest comes from Asian countries which view the 60-million Central Asian market as attractive and profitable.

Since early 2007, the State Committee for Property Management has lined up strategically important meetings that have demonstrated the interest of foreign companies in entering the economic space of our country with the aim of establishing mutually beneficial partner relations. The privatization of land by the Embassy of Germany, a visit by the representatives of "Lafarge", the biggest French company in Europe, and the interests of Russian investors testify to the aforementioned. Recently, the Committee was visited by a South Korean delegation accompanied by Moon Hayong, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of South Korea to the Republic of Uzbekistan.

South Korea is a country that has been in successful economic partnership with Uzbekistan since 1992. Around forty South Korean companies have been working in Uzbekistan. The investments brought into our country by this strategic partner have exceeded US$ 1,5 billion. The two recent visitors included the representatives of "Woolim Construction", South Korea's largest corporation, headed by its President Sim Yeong Sob as well as representatives of the company "POSCO" headed by its Vice-President Chang Hek Sik. Both the visits took place within the agenda of meetings endorsed by Rustam Azimov, Deputy Prime-Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The visits aimed to discuss the perspectives of investment cooperation in the sphere of construction and natural resource prospecting.

One of the company's distinguishing features is its aspiration to develop alternative types of energy for the purpose of decreasing its dependence on oil and purifying the environment. With this in view, "Woolim Construction Co., Ltd." has expressed profound interest and hopes to become part of the Uzbek market, and a desire to make a contribution to the development of construction and energy, underlines Sim Yeong Sob.

"POSCO", whose representatives have also shown interest in the investment activities in Uzbekistan, ranks 2nd among the world's 22 leaders of steel production. The company's annual turnover totals over US$ 18 billion. Presently, the company plans on expanding its business in the growing markets of China, India, Mexico, Brazil, Southeast Asia, East Europe and Uzbekistan.

Notably, "POSCO" has also been making headway in the sphere of information technologies and energy. It has electric power stations that produce 4,0 thousand megawatts of electric power annually. There are plans afoot to bring this figure up to 6,0 thousand in 2007-2008.

As of today, Uzbekistan is home to around 140 enterprises established with the participation of South Korean investment. They operate in areas such as machine building, commerce, food and light industry, metal processing, health care, tourism, etc. The South Korean guests familiarized themselves with the investment climate in Uzbekistan, conditions to privatize large strategic objects, chemical, machine building, electrical and other branches. In strategically important branches we need reliable partners who have sufficient investment opportunities, modern technologies and management necessary for the further growth and modernization of our businesses and their accession to international markets. These relations bode well for the strengthening of our partnership and economic growth both in Uzbekistan and Central Asia as a whole.