1. "The 11th Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum" will take place at the Millennium Seoul Hilton Hotel on November 6 and 7 to promote comprehensive exchanges and cooperation as well as friendship between the Republic of Korea and Central Asia. The event will be chaired by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun.

° The forthcoming Forum will bring together some 200 people, including delegations from the five Central Asian countries to be led by vice minister-level government officials, delegates from international organizations, key figures of various sectors, such as industries, academic circles, and public and private sectors, and experts from home and abroad.

※ The Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum is a multilateral vice-ministerial consultative mechanism launched in 2007 at the initiative of the ROK government with the aim to build comprehensive cooperative ties between the ROK and the five Central Asian countries. It has taken place regularly and ten times so far.

※ The five Central Asian countries are the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan.

2. The upcoming two-day Forum will consist of a session among the delegations from the participating countries on “the ROK’s New Northern Policy and Korea-Central Asia cooperation” and another among water experts from home, abroad and international organizations on “ways for the ROK and Central Asia to promote multilateral cooperation in the region.”

° On November 6, the first day of the event, the participants will discuss how the ROK government’s New Northern Policy and the Central Asian countries’ strategies for national and social development can be implemented in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way. In particular, experts will deliver presentations on specific ways that the ROK and the Central Asian countries can work together in such areas as health and medical care, forestry, environment, transportation and logistics.

° On November 7, the second and last day of the Forum, the participants will take note of the growing mood of cooperation in Central Asia and will cover the theme of “an efficient use of water resources in Central Asia” by discussing diverse water resource-related topics, including the Aral Sea, environment, agriculture, energy and ecosystem.

3. On the occasion of the Forum, Vice Minister Cho will host a meeting of the head delegates of the ROK and the five Central Asian countries (C5+1), where the officials are expected to enhance the institutional foundation for the ROK-Central Asia cooperation by discussing the envisioned accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the ROK-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat and the proposed revision of the Secretariat bylaws as well as the Secretariat’s project plan for the year 2019.

4. On the occasion of the Forum, the ROK-Central Asia project ideas that were submitted to a relevant contest will be presented. The aim of the event will be to support bids of young entrepreneurs-to-be of the ROK and the Central Asian countries to start businesses: Young adults interested in ROK-Central Asia business will be offered opportunities to engage in exchanges as well as education on the ROK and Central Asian markets in order to help them start businesses.

5. The 11th Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum, which will open up another decade of bilateral cooperation, is expected to help step up substantive cooperation in a mutually beneficial way with the five Central Asian countries, which are the ROK’s major partners on the Eurasian continent, and further strengthen the foundation for implementing the ROK government's New Northern Policy in Central Asia.

* unofficial translation