29 March, 2006
Uzbek leader talks up gains from South Korean visit
Uzbekistan backs South Korean nominee for top UN post
Uzbekistan eyes $1.8 bln investment from South Korea
South Korea's KNOC To Explore Oil Fields With Uzbekneftegaz
South Korea and Uzbek sign accord on oil development
South Korea wins right to develop Uzbek oil, gas fields
Uzbek's top bank inks pact with KEB
UZBEK LEADER TALKS UP GAINS FROM SOUTH KOREAN VISIT
28 March 2006, BBC Monitoring Central Asia. President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov left on 28 March for a state visit to South Korea at the invitation of its president, Roh Moo-hyun.
Before his departure, the head of state gave an interview to journalists at Tashkent international airport.
Speaking on issues to be discussed at the talks during his visit and on the range of documents to be signed, President Islam Karimov said the following:
“First of all, I must say that the current visit to South Korea is the fourth visit by the Uzbek side. In all, there have so far been six high-level meetings with the Korean leadership. If we take into account my current visit, too, the figure alone proves once again how wide-ranging and efficient Uzbek-Korean relations are.
During the forthcoming talks, we intend to sign 15 documents. The first and main one is a document intended to raise Uzbek-South Korean relations to a new level, a new stage, and to forge strategic partnership.
Other documents concern energy, the oil and gas sector, exploration of Uzbekistan's natural resources, and if need be, their development.
We now want to sign documents to strengthen what we agreed with Korea last year. We also want to attract big Korean companies, state and private ones alike, and bring together Korean high technology and Uzbekistan's natural resources.
Let us cite figures, for example, in the oil and gas sector: The building of new petrochemical plants is planned, at a current estimated cost of 1.1bln USD.
If we ask the point-blank question: what will Uzbekistan gain as a whole from these 15 documents? Documents and agreements worth 1.8 bln USD.
Another sphere is high technologies. We all know that South Korea is really advanced in information and communication technologies, computers. We want to bring these to Uzbekistan and develop cooperation in these spheres to a higher level”.
UZBEKISTAN BACKS SOUTH KOREAN NOMINEE FOR TOP UN POST
28 March 2006, BBC Monitoring Central Asia. President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov has said his country supports South Korea's nominee to succeed Kofi Annan as UN secretary-general. He made the statement at the start of a state visit to the South Korea on 28 March.
In a media interview just before his departure for South Korea the Uzbek head of state said: "Let me repeat - Uzbekistan has already declared - that Uzbekistan supports the South Korean minister of foreign affairs and trade Ban Ki-moon as a candidate for the post of UN secretary-general. This is a principled stance by Uzbekistan and is not just a tribute to something else."
President Karimov also said the two countries' foreign policies had many things in common: "South Korea's domestic and foreign policies are, in our view, thoroughly thought out and balanced, and have Uzbekistan's full support. Many of their international aspects are the same as ours."
UZBEKISTAN EYES $1.8 BLN INVESTMENT FROM SOUTH KOREA
28 March 2006, Reuters News. South Korea, an important trading partner for Uzbekistan, may invest $1.8 billion in the Central Asian country's energy and metal sectors, Uzbek President Islam Karimov was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Karimov, speaking in Tashkent ahead of his March 28-30 visit to Seoul, told he planned to sign a number of deals with South Korea to develop his country's oil and gas as well as gold and uranium industries.
Uzbekistan, which has a large ethnic Korean diaspora, has attracted more than $1 billion in investment from South Korea in the past 15 years, mainly in the cars, textile and telecoms sectors.
SOUTH KOREA'S KNOC TO EXPLORE OIL FIELDS WITH UZBEKNEFTEGAZ
29 March 2006, Dow Jones International News. State-run Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) Wednesday said it will jointly explore two possible oil fields in Uzbekistan with the central Asian country's state-run petroleum refiner Uzbekneftegaz.
The two companies plan to develop the sites in eastern Uzbekistan after each company completes its feasibility studies. In October, Uzbekneftegaz completed a six-month feasibility study.
"We will make a complementary study after we receive results of the first study from the Uzbekistan firm on the two potential fields in Namangan and Chust next month," said a KNOC spokesman.
KNOC will begin its six-month feasibility study in May, the spokesman added.
The two companies have yet to decide who will operate the two oil fields when developed.
The two areas are estimated to have 815 million barrels of oil in reserves.
KNOC made its first overseas foray in 1984 and now operates 32 development projects in 15 countries.
SOUTH KOREA AND UZBEK SIGN ACCORD ON OIL DEVELOPMENT
29 March 2006, Agence France Presse. South Korea and Uzbekistan sealed an accord Wednesday on the joint development of energy and natural resources, officials said.
The accord was signed by South Korean Commerce and Industry Minister Chung Sye-Kyun and Uzbek Minister for Foreign Economic Relations Alisher Erkinovich Shaikhov, Chung's office said.
The signing followed a summit between South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and Uzbek President Islam Karimov who arrived here Tuesday for a state visit.
Under the accord, Uzbekistan agreed to allow South Korean firms to develop oil, gas, uranium and other natural resources in the country, officials said.
The National Oil Corp said it would carry out preliminary exploration in the eastern part of Uzbekistan for six months this year.
SOUTH KOREA WINS RIGHT TO DEVELOP UZBEK OIL, GAS FIELDS
29 March 2006, Australian Associated Press General News. South Korea signed an agreement with Uzbekistan Wednesday to explore and develop oil and gas fields in the Central Asian country, officials said.
The memorandum of understanding signed between the National Oil Corp. (KNOC), Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) and Uzbeknefgaz, gives South Korea exclusive rights to examine and develop two oil and two gas fields, said the officials at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. For the deal, the KNOC and will carry out preliminary exploration in Chust-Pap and Namangan-Terachi in the eastern part of the country in cooperation with Uzbeknefgaz, the state-run oil and gas company, for six months. Based on the results, the KNOC has the right to sign a development contracts around December 2006.
The former location is estimated to hold 385 million barrels of crude oil, while Namangan may have 435 million barrels.
"Judging by the size of oil deposits found in other parts of the region, there is a good chance that oil fields will be found in the country, which has a confirmed deposit of only 600 million barrels," said Cho Seok, the head of the ministry's energy and resources policy bureau.
Of the two gas fields that will be developed by KOGAS, Surgil has been confirmed to have 84 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG), he said. A pact outlining the division of labor investment will be reached in the 2006-07 period, with construction of a gas extraction facility to be made in about three years' time.
The Uzunkui field may hold 191 million tons of LNG, but exploration work taking up to five years will be needed to determine the exact size and its commercial potential.
Korea Resources Corp., meanwhile, signed a separate agreement to jointly develop uranium, iron and gold mines in the central part of the country.
South Korea's Commerce and Industry Minister Chung Sye-kyunand Minister for Foreign Economic Relations Alisher Shaikhov also exchanged an MOU calling for greater bilateral cooperation in the development of energy and other natural resources.
UZBEK'S TOP BANK INKS PACT WITH KEB
28 March 2006, Joins.com. Korea Exchange Bank, the fifth-largest lender in Korea, said yesterday it will sign a strategic alliance pact with the National Bank of Uzbekistan in an effort to help boost trade between the two countries.
Under the agreement to be signed here today, Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) will provide a short-term export credit line of $20 million to the Uzbekistani bank.
The largest lender of Uzbekistan will also open won and foreign currency settlement accounts at KEB.
The Uzbekistani bank has a market share of around 60 percent in the Central Asian country.