Azernews.Az

BAKU – South Korea is interested in cooperating with Azerbaijan in the areas important for the Azerbaijani government, the Korean ambassador has said.

Lee Jiha told reporters on Thursday that his country views Azerbaijan as one of its 26 main partners in the world. According to Jiha, the trade turnover between the two countries made up $47 million in 2006, $446 million in 2008 and $159 million in 2009.

The ambassador said several Korean companies are operating in Azerbaijan. SK C&C Co. Ltd. is implementing a project on intelligent traffic management, while Ultra Construction and Engineering Co. Ltd. is building a highway between Ganja and Yevlakh, and Dongsung Engineering is involved in the construction of the main building of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR.

Amb. Jiha also said the Korean STX company and Azerbaijan’s AzMeCo plan to build a $350 million methanol plant in the Garadagh district outside Baku, and a relevant agreement is due to be signed in early December.

Jiha said South Korea also intends to implement a project on improving water supply in the northern part of the Absheron Peninsula, which encompasses the capital Baku.

According to him, the number of areas for cooperation between South Korea and Azerbaijan will further increase in the future.

"Azerbaijan has considerable natural wealth, while Korea is rich in economic and human resources. Therefore, there are ample areas of cooperation between the two countries."

Azerbaijan and South Korea established diplomatic ties in 1992. In May 2006, the late South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun paid a visit to Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited South Korea in April 2007.