1. On July 4, Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan had a luncheon meeting with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kazakbayev, who is on an official visit to Korea on July 4-6, and exchanged views on ways to develop bilateral relations.

2. Foreign Minister Kim commended the development of democracy in Kyrgyz Republic, which established a democratic government for the first time in Central Asia, and expected that Prime Minister Babanov’s visit to Korea in May and Minister Kazakbayev’s latest visit to Korea will contribute to enhancing friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries. In addition, stressing that agriculture is a promising sector for bilateral cooperation, Minister Kim urged Kyrgyz to join the ROK-led Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative to facilitate cooperation in agricultural technology.

3. Minister Kazakbayev hoped that bilateral cooperation and people-to-people exchanges will expand in a variety of areas, including agriculture, construction, tourism and sports. He showed interest in increasing cooperation in green growth, and expressed willingness to join the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), which became an international organization in June. He also hoped for more local governments of the two countries to establish sisterhood relationship and the ROK’s support for Kyrgyz in development cooperation to be strengthened.

4. Prior to the meeting, the two Ministers signed an agreement on a cooperation program between the ROK and Kyrgyz Foreign Ministries for 2012-2014, aimed at improving exchanges and cooperation between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries.


                     Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT

* unofficial translation