BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 16. Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed creating a Regional Investment Alliance for Critical Minerals between Central Asian countries and South Korea.
This was reflected in the statement by the press service of the Uzbek president.
Speaking at the first Central Asia-South Korea summit in Seoul, Mirziyoyev said critical minerals represent a major area where the strategic interests of Central Asian countries and South Korea converge.
“This area creates a unique convergence of the strategic interests of Central Asia and Korea,” Mirziyoyev said, pointing to rapidly growing global demand for critical raw materials and Central Asia’s substantial reserves.
He said the region has the potential to become one of the world’s leading suppliers of critical minerals, while South Korean technology and capital could play a decisive role in developing the sector.
“In this regard, we propose establishing a Regional Investment Alliance for Critical Minerals,” Mirziyoyev said.
The proposed alliance would focus on creating large-scale processing clusters across Central Asia and developing the entire critical-minerals value chain.
According to Mirziyoyev, cooperation would cover all stages of production, from geological exploration and mining to deep processing and the manufacturing of high-value-added products.
The proposal comes as critical minerals gain importance for industries linked to advanced manufacturing, energy technologies and the broader global technology sector. For Central Asian countries, deeper processing could also create opportunities to move beyond the export of raw materials toward higher-value production.
Mirziyoyev emphasized that combining Central Asia’s resource base with South Korea’s technological capabilities and investment could provide a foundation for new industrial projects across the region.
The critical minerals initiative was presented as one of five strategic areas proposed by Uzbekistan at the inaugural Central Asia-South Korea summit, alongside trade and industrial cooperation, climate action, digital security and human capital development.
The summit brought together the leaders of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan under the chairmanship of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
