Uzbekistan, Tashkent, August 2 / Trend D. Azizov /
Korean President Lee Myung-bak plans to visit Uzbekistan in late August, a source in the government told Trend.
Korean President's last visit to Uzbekistan was held in May 2009, when President Lee Myung-bak made his state visit.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov paid a state visit to Korea in February 2010.
About 16 documents were signed during the Uzbek President's visit to Korea to develop the Uzbek-Korean cooperation.
Korean President has accepted Uzbek counterpart's invitation to pay a return visit to Uzbekistan at a convenient time.
The Republic of Korea has recognized the independence of Uzbekistan in December 1991.
The diplomatic relations were established in January 1992.
The relations between the two countries in political, economic, military- technical and scientific areas are regulated by more than 150 bilateral interstate documents.
South Korea is one of the largest investment partners of Uzbekistan. Korean investments in Uzbekistan's economy will exceed $5 billion in the coming years. More than $2 billion of this amount has been mastered up to now.
The two countries established the regime of great favor. According to the official statistics, as of 2010, bilateral trade increased by 31.4 percent and totaled more than $ 1.6 billion.
Over 350 companies with South-Korean capital operate in Uzbekistan in the fields of light, chemical, food industry, commerce, engineering and metalworking industries, housing and communal services, healthcare, tourism and services.
Moreover, more than 90 representatives of South Korean companies, operating in export-import operations, transportation services, textile manufacturing, and service electronics have been accredited in Uzbekistan.
The Uzbek-South Korean ties have been recently intensified in the cultural-humanitarian sphere, especially between universities and academic institutions. More than 10 Uzbek universities cooperate with 20 South Korean universities. The Korean Education Center has been successfully operating in Tashkent since 1992.
It trained 3,500 people.