TASHKENT (TCA) — South Korea and Uzbekistan on September 29 signed a memorandum of understanding on Korea’s participation in building a new passenger terminal at Tashkent Airport.
South Korea’s Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho and his Uzbek counterpart Rustam Azimov held a meeting in Seoul to discuss ways to bolster economic cooperation between the two countries and expand the participation of South Korean companies in government-led projects in Uzbekistan, Yonhap news agency reported with reference to Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance.
Under the MOU, the Korean government will contribute to a fund to build an airport passenger terminal in Tashkent worth US $350 million and establish a national data center.
South Korea will invest a total of $250 million through the Korea Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), a state-run fund launched in 1987 aimed at helping developing and less-developed countries by providing loans that carry low interest rates.
Uzbekistan will co-finance $100 million for the project.
It was earlier reported that the new terminal was designed by South Korean specialists.
The project’s feasibility study was prepared by a South Korean consortium headed by the airport’s managing company, Inchen. This work was financed by the Korean side.
The new terminal would be constructed in four years. Its area will be twice as much as that of the existing international terminal at the Tashkent airport.
The new terminal will be able to serve 1.5 thousand passengers per hour.
The Korean ambassador to Uzbekistan earlier said that this project will become a new stage in Uzbek-Korean cooperation, and that the government of South Korea will take every effort to turn the Tashkent airport into a Central Asia air hub by introducing Korean know-how and best practices in airport construction and maintenance.
