OREANDA-NEWS. January 22, 2010. A delegation of South Korea led by the Director General of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance Joo Hyung Hwan is visiting Uzbekistan. Within the framework of his stay in Tashkent the Korean diplomat spoke of his impressions and relations between the two countries.

- What impression did you get from Uzbekistan?
- I have been eager to visit Uzbekistan earlier, and I feel something lacking because I cannot stay longer this time. Uzbekistan looks very impressive because it is positioned on the ancient Great Silk Road between Europe and Asia and thanks to the majestic city famed for their architectural opulence, once flourished as trade and cultural centres.

As far as I know about 200,000 Koreans live in Uzbekistan, and Korean language is well educated in local schools, I feel like Uzbekistan is very close neighbor.

- As an export-based economy, Korea is closely integrated into the global economy and probably, has been affected adversely from the global economic crisis. However, now as the international economy is recovering, and how it is possible Korea's economic revival is among one of the fastest?
- The current crisis is attributable to external factors, such as instabilities in the international financial market triggered by financial failures in advanced economies, Korea, however, did not suffer severe financial turmoil and real estate bubble before the crisis. With few internal problems, the Korean economy was able to recover as soon as instabilities in the international financial market began to subdue.

Moreover, the result from Korean exporters' efforts to diversify their markets and strengthen competitiveness, Korea's exports volume fell less than that of other countries.

- What is the EDCF's plan for Uzbekistan, and which sector of EDCF is KEXIM's top priority?
- Upon joining the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of OECD last year, the Korean government officially became acknowledged as an Official Development Assistance (ODA) donor country.

This is significant as Korea was an aid recipient only a few decades ago. In order to fulfill our responsibilities as a member of the DAC and the international society to facilitate the economic and social development efforts of developing countries, the Korean government plans to continually increase EDCF and ODA support quantitatively and qualitatively.

Classified as an EDCF priority country, Uzbekistan is an important partner country for economic cooperation. To date, approximately 7 million have been provided for five projects in Uzbekistan aimed at developing telecommunications, human resources development, and public health and healthcare, making the country the tenth largest EDCF beneficiary country globally and the single largest beneficiary in the CIS.

Plans to implement EDCF projects from 2010 to 2012 will undoubtedly serve to advance mutually beneficial economic cooperation even further between our two countries.

To mitigate the effects of climate changes and help to preserve the environment, the Green Growth sector has been designated as a top priority for EDCF. The Green Growth sector will receive more favorable interest rates and terms and conditions for support.