A ceremony to celebrate the completion of construction and commencement of operations of the Ustyurt Gas Chemical Complex (UGCC) at the Surgil field was held on 21 May.
It was noted at the event that cooperation between Uzbekistan and South Korea has been steadily developing in the oil & gas sector and chemical industry among other spheres, based on the agreements reached during the meetings of the heads of the two countries. The state visits of President Park Geun-hye to the Republic of Uzbekistan in June 2014 and President Islam Karimov to the Republic of Korea in May 2015 have elevated mutually beneficial cooperation to a qualitatively new level.
Under the leadership of President Islam Karimov huge accomplishments have been achieved in diversifying and modernization of the economy, production of high-tech and competitive products. As a result of the strategy of establishing special complexes on deep processing of hydrocarbon reserves, an oil and gas industry, based on advanced technologies, has been formed. Today this sphere is dynamically developing.
A significant attention is paid not only to increasing the volume of extraction and processing, but also to widening the assortment of manufactured products, based on processing of raw materials. Macroeconomic stability has been secured in our country. Thanks to this many developed countries, leading international financial organizations cooperate with our country, large modern complexes and enterprises are being constructed.
The Republic of Korea is a strategic, one of the main investment and technological partners of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Following regular negotiations of the Presidents of the two countries a mutually beneficial cooperation has been steadily developing. Many strategic projects are under implementation in difference spheres of the economy, including in the oil and gas sector, with active involvement of South Korean entrepreneurs. South Korean companies productively cooperate in conducting exploratory works, developing hydrocarbon deposits in different regions of Uzbekistan.
The Ustyurt Gas Chemical Complex, constructed at the Surgil field, is a vivid example of Uzbek-South Korean collaboration. Its construction has been carried out within the frameworks of the Program of wide-scale industrial modernization of the country, approved by the head of our state. This is the first large-scale project in the oil and gas sector not only in Uzbekistan, but in the whole CIS, implemented on the basis of long-term financing.
Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Hwang Kyo-ahn underlined that Uzbekistan is the main strategic partner of South Korea in Central Asia. The Republic of Korea attaches high priority to developing mutually beneficial cooperation with Uzbekistan in trade-economic and investment spheres and successful commissioning of the Ustyurt Gas Chemical Complex will serve to further develop fruitful cooperation in the oil and gas sector, as well as chemical industry.