Seoul: South Korea and Uzbekistan held a vice trade ministers' meeting to discuss ways to expand industrial and supply chain cooperation between the two countries, Seoul's trade ministry said. Vice Trade Minister Park Jung-sung met with his Uzbek counterpart, Ilzat Kasimov, in Seoul to exchange views on bilateral economic ties ahead of an upcoming summit between South Korea and five Central Asian nations, including Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, set to be held in September.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the vice ministers agreed on the need to expand economic and industrial cooperation between the two sides, as well as collaboration in critical minerals amid shifts in global supply chains. Park called for Uzbekistan's support for Korean companies operating in the country, stressing that Uzbekistan is an important economic cooperation partner for South Korea in the Central Asian region. Meanwhile, Kasimov expressed hopes for South Korean companies' additional investment in Uzbekistan's manufacturing and infrastructure sectors, the ministry said.