Korea, Central Asia forge new supply chain partnership at Seoul summit

Korean President Lee Jae Myung and other leaders at the inaugural Korea-Central Asia Summit adopted a joint declaration in Seoul on Wednesday aimed at strengthening cooperation in trade and investment, building resilient supply chains and advancing the digital transformation.

"We must prepare for the next 30 years together, building upon the foundation of cooperation established over the past three decades,” Lee said in his opening remarks at the summit in central Seoul. "The ‘Silk Road spirit' of Central Asia, which once connected the people, technologies and cultures of the East and West, is needed now more than ever.”

Lee co-chaired the event bringing together the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, or the C5 nations, under the slogan "Walking Together Toward the Future: Partnership for Trust and Prosperity.”

"Today, the world is entering an era of great transformation where the economy and security are deeply intertwined, spanning from supply chains and energy to markets and technology,” Lee said. "The respective strengths of Korea and Central Asia will offer boundless opportunities to jointly address the challenges facing each of us."

During the summit, Lee and the C5 leaders adopted the “Seoul Declaration,” which outlined four visions for cooperation: institutionalizing the Korea-Central Asia partnership; advancing together toward peace and stability; shaping a future of innovation and prosperity; and strengthening connectivity through bonds between people and trust.

In the joint declaration, the six leaders said they recognized that the “critical minerals in Central Asia could play an important role in enabling supply chain diversification and enhancing economic security” and expressed interest in “combining Central Asia’s abundant critical minerals with Korea’s advanced technologies and facilitating potential exchanges of skilled personnel.”

They highlighted the “strategic nature of cooperation in the oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors,” noting the “need to strengthen energy supply chains” between Korea and Central Asia. They expressed interest in exploring potential cooperation in hydropower, renewable energy, energy efficiency, modernization of energy infrastructure and development of clean energy technologies.

“Korea, possessing manufacturing capabilities and needing to diversify its markets and supply chains, and the Central Asian nations, boasting abundant resources and growing markets, are ideal partners capable of unlocking each other's potential," Lee said at the plenary session of the summit. "Let us strengthen cooperation to mutual benefit by effectively combining our manufacturing and technological prowess.”

The event was elevated to summit level after the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum was established in 2007. Lee was joined by Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The six leaders later took part in the first Korea-Central Asia Business Summit hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and organized by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) at a hotel in central Seoul.

“By combining Central Asia’s abundant mineral resources, such as lithium and uranium, with our manufacturing capabilities in batteries and semiconductors, we can lead the global market together,” Lee said at the business summit, referring to minerals critical to the manufacturing of electric vehicles, batteries and semiconductors.

He then pledged to “become a reliable partner in building the infrastructure of the future.”

The business event, Korea’s first summit-level multilateral economic event involving the five Central Asian nations since it established diplomatic relations with them in 1992, was attended by some 520 officials and business leaders, including executives from major Korean companies, such Posco, LS, Daewoo E&C, Shinhan Financial Group, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor and LG CNS.

“If Korea and Central Asia share their respective strengths and experiences and join forces, we can create far greater opportunities and prosperity together than we have today,” SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, chairman of the KCCI, said during the event.

The business communities of the six nations agreed to expand education and investment, strengthen corporate cooperation to create new business opportunities and identify new ways for collaboration in the fields of AI and digital technology.

During the summit, 19 business cooperation memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were signed in critical minerals, smart cities, industrial plants, and digital technology, including an agreement between Hyundai Motor and the Caspian Group, one of Kazakhstan's leading private investment firms, regarding smart city cooperation.

Earlier in the day, Lee held separate bilateral summits with Tajikistan’s Rahmon and Kyrgyzstan’s Japarov.

Lee, in talks with Rahmon, noted that Tajikistan is rich in mineral resources and promised to cooperate for Tajikistan's economic development as a “trustworthy partner."

In his summit with Japarov, Lee said Korea and Kyrgyzstan are solid partners that have advanced cooperation in various areas since establishing diplomatic ties in 1992, including politics, the economy and culture," Lee said.

Later Wednesday night, Lee hosted a dinner banquet where he called for cooperation in energy, trade and investment, transport and infrastructure, AI, the digital transformation, the climate crisis and peace and security.

“The ‘Silk Road of the Future’ that we will travel together will link energy, cutting-edge technology, businesses and markets, opening a path of dreams and hope for the youth of our nations,” he said in his banquet address.

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]