Public-Private Cooperation
Korean Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang asked the government of Turkmenistan, the world’s fourth-largest natural gas producer, to support Korean companies in winning plant projects. The projects are worth US$2.5 billion (about 3.2 trillion won).
Turkmenistan’s natural gas reserves are 13.6 trillion cubic meters (about 10 billion tons of liquefied natural gas), making it the world’s fourth-largest natural gas producer. Its main imports from Korea are pharmaceuticals, auto parts, and synthetic resins.
The Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) said that Minister Lee had a high-level meeting with Baymyrat Annamammedov, Turkmenistan's deputy prime minister for construction and industry, at Lotte Hodel in Seoul on July 19 in order to support Korean companies in winning orders from Turkmenistan.
“There are many success stories of cooperation in plant projects between the two countries, such as the US$3 billion Kiyanly Gas Chemical Plant completed in October 2018,” Lee said, suggesting that the two countries work together to create another success story. “I would like to request the Turkmen side’s interest and support for Korean companies’ participation in two plant projects in the Balkan and Türkmenabat regions of Turkmenistan, respectively.”
Turkmenistan is building the Balkan Urea-Ammonia Fertilizer Plant and Türkmenabat Phosphate Fertilizer Plant. The Balkan Urea-Ammonia Fertilizer Plant will produce 1.15 million tons of urea fertilizers per year and 660,000 tons per year of synthetic ammonia. It will be built by a state-run Turkmen company. The Türkmenabat Phosphoric Acid Fertilizer Plant is a 300,000 t/year phosphoric acid fertilizer production facility and auxiliary facilities for the Turkmen State Corporation. The projects will be carried out in the form of an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract. Daewoo E&C signed a memorandum of understanding in November last year and received a letter of intent in March this year. Accordingly, the main contract signing will be promoted after this November.
This visit by the Turkmen delegation, which included Turkmenistan’s deputy prime minister for construction and industry and officials from the state-run Turkmen gas and chemical companies, among others, showed the Turkmen side’s strong willingness to cooperate with Korea in the plant business, industry analysts say.
According to the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, trade between Korea and Turkmenistan stood at US$9 million in 2022. Turkmenistan’s main resources are natural gas and oil, with its natural gas reserves accounting for 7.23 percent of the world’s total. Its annual natural gas production is 59 billion cubic meters, accounting for 1.53 percent of the world’s total, ranking 13th. Its oil reserves are 600 million barrels, ranking 45th in the world, and its oil production is 80 million barrels, ranking 33rd in the world.