Korea and five Central Asian countries are intensifying their cooperation to address the climate crisis, transition to renewable energy, and improve environmental conditions. The initiative aims to expand collaboration in areas such as renewable energy, greenhouse gas reduction, air quality, water supply, and waste management, while also facilitating the entry of domestic companies into the Central Asian market and increasing opportunities for overseas contracts.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment announced on September 16 that, during a summit held at the Blue House, it launched the 'Korea-Central Asia Climate, Energy, and Environment Policy Initiative' with Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
This summit marks the first multilateral meeting between Korea and Central Asian nations. The government expects it to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation by linking the economic growth and infrastructure expansion needs of Central Asia with Korea's strategies for diversifying supply chains and expanding markets.
The core of the policy initiative is to connect the policy needs of Central Asian countries with Korea's policy, technology, and industrial capabilities.
Key areas of cooperation include decarbonization and green transition through the expansion of renewable energy, as well as environmental improvement projects focused on air quality, stable water supply, and waste management. Multilateral cooperation to respond to the climate crisis will also be pursued.
The cooperation methods will extend beyond policy and personnel exchanges to include joint research, technology collaboration, and infrastructure development. This approach aims to identify follow-up projects such as international greenhouse gas reduction and joint pilot projects, while also linking them to overseas contracts for domestic companies.
Notably, this policy initiative is explicitly included in the 'Seoul Declaration,' which outlines a long-term cooperation vision between Korea and the five Central Asian countries. The government explains that this provides a foundation for ongoing cooperation at the leadership level in the fields of climate, energy, and environment.
The Ministry of Climate will continue to identify cooperation tasks that reflect the conditions and needs of each country and will engage in follow-up discussions to concretize these into actual projects.
The government emphasizes that this policy initiative represents a significant framework for promoting regional cooperation in Central Asia centered on the common challenges of climate, energy, and environment, moving beyond existing bilateral cooperation.
In particular, it aims to broaden opportunities for domestic companies to participate in the expanding renewable energy market in Central Asia and to achieve tangible results in international greenhouse gas reduction.
Kim Ji-young, the International Cooperation Officer at the Ministry of Climate, stated, 'Through this Korea-Central Asia cooperation policy initiative, we will actively promote collaboration so that our country's excellent policies and technologies can contribute to tangible environmental improvements in Central Asia and lead to expanded overseas opportunities for our companies.'
* This article has been translated by AI.
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