A Role Model for FEZ Development in Uzbekistan
The Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) has become a role model for development of free economic zones in Uzbekistan.
Kim Jin-yong, president of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority, and Kasymov Ilzat Ablahatovich, vice governor of Tashkent State in Uzbekistan, signed an MOU on promoting the development of and investment in free economic zones in Tashkent at G Tower in Songdo International City on Jan. 21.
Under the MOU, the IFEZ Authority will cooperate with Tashkent State in promoting joint projects and exchanges to speed up development of free economic zones in Tashkent and attract foreign investment to them.
In addition, the IFEZ Authority will dispatch specialists to transfer its expertise and train local officials in order to inject vitality into the Angren FEZ in the province of Tashkent.
The MOU was signed in response to a request from the Tashkent government, which has been pushing for cooperation with the IFEZ Authority to revitalize the Angren FEZ in Tashkent.
Tashkent State surrounds the metropolitan area of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and is the most economically developed region in Uzbekistan. The Angren FEZ has become the center of Uzbekistan’s economic growth.
In March of last year, the IFEZ Authority signed a letter of intent to cooperate with Bukhara State in Uzbekistan. In April, it signed an MOU with the Uzbek Embassy in Korea for cooperation with the Uzbekistan Trade Representative, which opened an office in Songdo, Incheon.
In July of last year, the IFEZ Authority signed a letter of intent to cooperate with the Uzbek state of Fergana. As these cases illustrate, the Uzbek government has been requesting cooperation from the IFEZ Authority to benchmark the IFEZ.
In particular, the Uzbek Trade Representative officially opened its office in POSCO Tower in Songdo, Incheon, in November last year, becoming the first among foreign trade representatives in Korea to set up an office not in Seoul.