Kazakhstan and South Korea on the path to deepening strategic partnership - Bakishev
ASTANA. December 9. KAZINFORM - During the official visit of Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov to South Korea Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Korea Dulat Bakishev told Primeminister.kz about the prospects of bilateral cooperation.
"Kazakhstan and South Korea are on the path to deepening their strategic partnership," Bakishev said.
"Both sides are actively developing bilateral cooperation. Compared with 2011 the volume of trade between the two countries increased by almost 40% and reached 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2012. For the first nine months of 2013 it exceeded 1 billion U.S. dollars and in comparison with the same period in 2012 grew by more than 6%," the diplomat noted.
"Kazakh investment in South Korea amounted to more than 2.6 billion U.S. dollars. In our country there are more than 700 joint ventures with South Korean capital," he added.
"Co-production of products with high added value is a prime example of our close cooperation with South Korean partners. Along with investments, new technology, modern skills and a new attitude to the production came to Kazakhstan. I think that the two countries have every opportunity to further enhance business cooperation, and it is necessary to encourage this desire," Bakishev stressed.