Industry ministry and Tajikistan discuss summit cooperation

Moon Shin-hak, vice minister at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, met Isozon Kurbonzoda, Tajikistan's first deputy minister of industry and new technologies, in Seoul to discuss economic cooperation projects ahead of the Sept. 16 Korea-Central Asia summit, which will bring together South Korea and five Central Asian countries.

The officials discussed establishing the C5+Korea Industry Ministers' Meeting as a regular cooperation channel among South Korea, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. They also considered a memorandum of understanding on mutually beneficial cooperation in industry and new technologies, as well as expanding exchanges among business leaders during a Korea-Central Asia Business Summit alongside the leaders' meeting.

Tajikistan's gold, silver and antimony resources were part of the discussions on expanding critical-minerals supply-chain cooperation. The first Korea-Tajikistan Minerals Forum will take place in Seoul on Aug. 12, with governments, specialist institutions and companies set to discuss critical-minerals policy, joint exploration opportunities, investment and financing, and supply-chain development. Moon said he hoped the forum would identify practical cooperation projects by linking Tajikistan's resource potential with Korean mineral exploration and development technology and demand.

"Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries are important partners with abundant resources and growth potential," Moon Shin-hak, vice minister at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said. "We will work to turn the tasks discussed at the meeting into tangible cooperation in industry, supply chains and critical minerals at the September summit."