MOSCOW, September 17. /Dunyo IA/.   Head of the Center for Central Asian Studies at the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Political Sciences Alexandra Perminova, commented for Dunyo IA on the outcomes of the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan to South Korea, which took place on September 13–16^th:

- State Visit of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the Republic of Korea confirms Tashkent's course toward expanding the circle of technological and investment partners.

For Uzbekistan, this is primarily an opportunity to acquire new technologies, equipment, and capital for industrial modernization. A package of projects worth approximately $12 billion was prepared for the visit and over 700 enterprises with South Korean capital are already operating in the country.

Of the greatest interest are the projects that establish manufacturing capabilities within Uzbekistan, rather than forming new chains exclusively tailored to the South Korean market. Localization, raw material processing, joint ventures and the development of machine building strengthen the Republic's own industrial base and can expand opportunities for cooperation with all its traditional economic partners.

The same applies to the transport agenda. New routes are beneficial to the region when they enhance the overall connectivity of Central Asia and integrate with already active transport corridors. For the region as a whole, a model appears more sustainable when new external partners embed themselves into existing economic ties, rather than creating parallel and closed circuits.