President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke at the opening of the Kazakh-Korean roundtable. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
The head of state noted that bilateral trade turnover exceeded 3 billion dollars last year. In his view, if governments and companies join efforts, this figure can be multiplied.
A record in car production
Tokayev said the experience of Korean companies has clearly proven that Kazakhstan is a competitive and reliable production platform. Last year, nearly 170,000 cars were produced in the country. Most of them belong to Hyundai and Kia. Passenger and cargo vehicles, as well as buses of these auto brands, are assembled in the country.
In addition, the production of Korean household appliances is developing in Kazakhstan. Samsung household appliances are currently produced at local plants. Thus, Korean companies have begun coming to our country in large numbers, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.
Promising areas of cooperation
The president named construction, urban development and mineral resources as another promising area of cooperation. The head of state drew attention to the relevance of the transport and logistics sector on the shared agenda.
According to him, Kazakhstan, which connects Asia and Europe, intends to benefit from this geographical advantage by forming a modern and efficient transport and logistics network.
The Trans-Caspian route and logistics
Tokayev said significant funds are being invested in railways, roads, seaports, terminals and general infrastructure to increase the capacity, speed and reliability of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. He said the time has come for Korea to contribute to the development of the Middle Corridor.
The president said Kazakhstan welcomes the steps of Korean logistics companies such as CJ Logistics and LX Pantos, which are developing modern logistics centers, multimodal terminals, warehouse complexes and digital solutions for supply chain management in the country.
In addition, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said there is great potential for cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence and new technologies. As part of the roundtable, investment projects of Kazakhstan and South Korea were presented to the president.