Photo: Akorda

BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 15. Kazakhstan aims to double bilateral trade turnover with South Korea.

This was announced by the press service of the Kazakh President, citing Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's remarks at the opening of the Kazakh-Korean roundtable

According to the information, in the course of the roundtable, Tokayev stated that bilateral trade turnover exceeded $3 billion last year and could be doubled through joint efforts by the governments and companies of the two countries.

He noted that over the past three decades, Astana and Seoul have built strong relations based on mutual respect, trust and friendship.

“Today, Korea is among Kazakhstan's largest trade and investment partners. We highly value the fruitful presence of major Korean companies and will continue to strengthen this positive trend. I always say that Korean businesspeople, who are the most determined and bold leaders in investment, are distinguished by a high level of integrity and respectful attitude toward Kazakhstan,” Tokayev said.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted that South Korea's total foreign direct investment in Kazakhstan has exceeded $12 billion. More than 1,000 companies with Korean capital operate in Kazakhstan, including Samsung, Kia, Hyundai, Lotte, Doosan Enerbility and Shinhan Bank.

“We are firmly determined to bring our cooperation to a qualitatively new level and comprehensively strengthen the ties of friendship and partnership. This visit provides a good opportunity to consolidate the progress achieved and give new impetus to bilateral cooperation,” the president said.