South Korea's Moon kicks off three-country Central Asian tour
[ASHGABAT] South Korean President Moon Jae-in kicked off a trade and investment-focused tour of Central Asia on Wednesday with a visit to Turkmenistan, as he seeks to ease reliance on China and the US.
Mr Moon met authoritarian Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov in the gas-rich nation's capital Ashgabat, in the first stage of a trip that will also take in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Mr Berdymukhamedov said following talks that his country considered South Korea "a reliable business partner".
Turkmenistan is seeking to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons that account for over 90 per cent of exports.
Mr Moon expressed hope for "further participation of Korean companies in the development of the energy sector of Turkmenistan, as well as infrastructure projects," in comments translated into Russian.
Mr Moon's office earlier confirmed that economic affairs would dominate talks during the eight-day regional tour.
Presidential economic adviser Joo Hyung-chul said Central Asian markets would grow "even more significant on a global scale" in coming years, in comments published on the presidential website Monday.
Mr Moon is looking to ease the reliance of the world's 11th-largest economy - stuttering on 2.7 per cent annual growth - on traditional partners Beijing and Washington.
AFP
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
International
Malaysia ex-PM Mahathir facing anti-graft probe in a case involving his sons
BOE reports record usage of short-term liquidity repo
Philippines central bank not seeing rate hike despite peso weakness: finmin
Middle East tensions threaten global progress on inflation: World Bank
Heatstroke kills 30 in Thailand this year as South-east Asia bakes
Thailand to appoint former energy executive Pichai as finance minister, sources say