South Korea and Uzbekistan held their first Foreign Ministers' Strategic Dialogue in Seoul on Tuesday and discussed ways to develop bilateral relations, including cooperation in building a supply chain for key raw materials.

According to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, Park Jin and his Uzbek counterpart Baxtiyor Saidov discussed cooperation in energy, key minerals, defense, and a wider range of economic and industry fields.

Minister Park also asked for Uzbekistan’s support in allowing Korean companies to participate in the Central Asian nation’s transportation infrastructure projects.

Also on Tuesday, South Korea’s trade ministry announced it had clinched a trade promotion partnership with Uzbekistan to seek a comprehensive partnership in the global supply chain.

The ministry said the two countries signed the Trade and Investment Promotion Framework in Seoul, which will allow an expansion of bilateral trade and investment.

The TIPF is a nonbinding agreement that calls for enhanced economic ties and deeper cooperation in areas such as supply chain, digital and biotechnology.