The speakers of the parliaments of South Korea and five Central Asian countries held the first forum in Seoul on Tuesday, 19 September, to discuss cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
The event was attended by Kim Jin-pyo, Speaker of the National Assembly of Korea, Speaker of the Majilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Yerlan Koshanov, Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbayeva, Speaker of the lower house of the Parliament of Tajikistan Mahmadtoir Zokirzoda, Speaker of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan Dunyagozel Gulmanova, Chairman of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan Nurlanbek Shakiyev.
Opening the meeting, Speaker of the National Assembly of Korea Kim Jin-pyo said that South Korea hopes to strengthen friendly relations with Central Asia through this meeting.
“This year is a meaningful year to evaluate the first 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations and start a new 30 years, and we want to be a special partner for reciprocal win-win and cooperation”, he said , according to Yonhap.
Kim expressed hope that the meeting of the speakers of the National Assembly of Korea and the parliaments of Central Asia will provide a platform for regular dialogue and drive the cooperation in economic, industrial, health, education, culture, and tourism sectors.
The first meeting of the Chairmen of the parliaments of the Central Asia and S.Korea ended with the adoption of a joint declaration entitled “Development of long-term cooperation”.
The Declaration supports the further intensification of political, economic, cultural and humanitarian ties, and also emphasizes the need to expand cooperation in priority areas such as energy, tourism, infrastructure, education, healthcare, mining, digitalization.
The document establishes that the Central Asia–South Korea interparliamentary forum is becoming a regular platform for dialogue and cooperation. The next meeting of the forum will be held in Turkmenistan in 2024. ///nCa, 20 September 2023 [photo credit – Yonhap]
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