ASTANA – Kazakhstan and South Korea are currently implementing five projects worth $1.5 billion and considering 25 more promising projects worth nearly $500 million, said Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov at an Oct. 24 meeting with South Korean Minister of Trade Ahn Duk-geun, reported the Prime Minister’s press service, reports TurkicWorld with the reference to The Astana Times.

According to Smailov, constructing a new KIA plant in Kostanai, with a total investment of $190 million and an annual production capacity of 70,000 cars, is one of these projects.

Kazakhstan has over 700 Korean operating enterprises, including major companies like Hyundai, Samsung, and LG, apart from KIA, the Prime Minister added.

As one of the top ten largest investors in Kazakhstan’s economy, South Korea has brought in approximately $9.2 billion in the past 18 years. In 2022, the gross inflow of direct investment from South Korea increased by 85%, reaching a record volume of $1.5 billion.

Meanwhile, the trade turnover between the countries grew 2.3 times to over $6.1 billion last year and rose by 11% in the first eight months of 2023.

Smailov stressed the importance of diversifying the range of goods traded between the two countries and proposed activating the Kazakhstan-Korea Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, and Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

Ahn Duk-geun expressed South Korea’s readiness for active technological cooperation with Kazakhstan, noting that the successful implementation of the KIA plant could pave the way for constructing additional similar plants and production facilities in Kazakhstan.