The Seoul City government and Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, have become sister cities.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon discussed exchanges and cooperation between the two cities on Friday morning with Tashkent Mayor Abdukahhar Tukhtayev after signing the agreement.

Tashkent has abundant natural resources and is situated in a strategically important location. The largest industrial city in Central Asia, Tashkent adopted a friendship accord with Seoul in 2006. Since then, the two cities have been engaged in human and cultural exchanges.

Tashkent also has plans in the making to allow Seoul to build a so-called “Seoul Park.” This project is expected to pick up the pace with the sister city designation.

The Seoul government plans to hold a contest for the design of the park, with hopes of completing its construction by 2012.