OREANDA-NEWS. May 15, 2009. Following the official ceremony, the head of state held tete-a-tete and expanded talks at the Akorda Palace, reported the Official website government.kz.

Nursultan Nazarbayev and Lee Myung-bak discussed issues on stepping up bilateral trade and economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian cooperation.

The heads of state stated there are no political differences between Astana and Seoul hindering the mutually beneficial cooperation.

The leadership of the Republic of Korea spoke highly of Kazakhstan’s results achieved in political, social and economic spheres as well as Astana’s goal to diversify the economy and enter the list of 50 competitive countries.

It was noted in the course of negotiations that the volume of bilateral trade turnover accounted for more than US 750 million in 2008. Over the past fifteen years for the 1993-2008 period, the gross inflow of Korean direct investment to Kazakhstan’s economy reached US 3 billion.

A total of 300 Korean companies are presently in operation in Kazakhstan. Among them are the companies of the Samsung, LG Electronics and LG International Groups, Dong IL Highvill, Urim, Sungwon, and Haejoong construction companies. The representative offices of Kookmin, Shinhan, and Woori Korean Banks as well as Hanhwa Securities, Honda Securities, Daewoo Capital and other companies are working in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan spoke highly of the support and active participation of the Korean side in realization of the initiatives on hosting the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia and the Congress of World and Traditional Religions.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev also expressed gratitude to the Korean leadership for the support of Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO.

The two Presidents discussed opportunities of expanding the participation of Korean business in Kazakhstan’s economy diversification projects. It was noted that cooperation in IT, mechanical engineering, chemical and processing industries, agriculture, transport as well as development of alternative energy are top priority.

The President of Kazakhstan drew attention to the agreement between the Samruk-Energy and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Samsung to construct Balkhash thermal electric power generation station as a positive example of such cooperation. This project is estimated US 4.5 billion. It is included into the list of the country’s breakthrough projects and is of strategic importance for Kazakhstan.

The sides also exchanged views on a range of international policy issues. They discussed topical issues on regional security, nuclear disarmament and non proliferation, the ways out of the global financial crisis as well as cooperation under the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Within the framework of the visit the Highest State Decoration of the Republic of Korea – the Grand Order of Mugunghwa (the Supreme Order of Hibiscus) awarding ceremony to the President of Kazakhstan took place. President Lee Myung-bak presented this order to President Nursultan Nazarbayev. In his turn, President Lee Myung-bak was awarded Kazakhstan’s Supreme Decoration, the Altyn Kyran Order (The Golden Eagle) for his great personal contribution to strengthening Kazakhstan-Korean friendly relations.

Following the negotiations, President Nursultan Nazarbayev and President Lee Myung-bak issued a joint statement on the two countries’ readiness to strengthen strategic partnership.

The heads of state expressed confidence that the first state visit of the President of Korea to Kazakhstan would further strengthen political high-level dialogue and give a fresh impetus to the development of the whole range of Kazakhstan-Korean interaction.

On the same day, the business forum “New Prospects for the Development of Kazakhstan-Korean Relations” with participation of President Lee Myung-bak was held in Astana. The leading Kazakhstani and Korean businessmen took part in the forum. Following the results of the forum, a number of memorandums and agreements on cooperation in the energy sphere, transport, construction sector, and telecommunications have been signed.