Seoul to sign cooperation deals worth $8.6 mln with Uzbekistan

SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will sign four economic and social
cooperation agreements, worth US$8.65 million in total, with Uzbekistan this week
when the president of the Central Asian country comes here on a state visit,
Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.
The agreements include a $3 million cooperation deal to help improve Uzbekistan's
quarantine and medical services that will significantly improve the country's
ability to fight the spread of contagious diseases, according to the ministry.
The deals will be signed Wednesday by South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan
and the visiting vice prime minister of Uzbekistan, Elyer Ganiev.
Ganiev, who concurrently serves as Uzbekistan's foreign minister, arrived here
last Tuesday to prepare for Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov's three-day visit,
which starts Wednesday.
"The agreements will help deepen and strengthen the relationship between the two
countries," the ministry said.
Under an economic cooperation deal, South Korea will build four water pumps,
worth $1.5 million, before the end of the year in Uzbekistan's northern Khorezm
region that are designed to help secure a safe and steady source of drinking
water, according to the ministry.
Apart from the agreements on economic assistance, the countries will also sign a
memorandum of understanding on cooperation between Uzbekistan's foreign ministry
and South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration that will lead to
the establishment of a joint committee on defense acquisition, it said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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