Minerals, metro and students: what connects Tajikistan and South Korea

Tajikistan and South Korea have announced a comprehensive partnership covering critical minerals, transport, energy, education and investment. The agreements followed President Emomali Rahmon’s first official visit to South Korea in 11 years and the first Central Asia–South Korea summit in Seoul. Rahmon met South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on September 16. Their talks focused on Korean investment and technology, artificial intelligence, energy, transport, tourism and the development of Tajikistan’s mineral resources. The two sides signed 15 documents covering industry, energy, transport, education, customs and other areas. On the same day, South Korea and the five Central Asian countries adopted the Seoul Declaration , establishing a summit format that will be held every two years. The next summit is scheduled for 2028 in Astana.

The central idea of the new partnership is to combine Central Asia’s natural resources with South Korea’s technology and investment. Rahmon also highlighted regional stability, resilient supply chains and climate issues, including water shortages and glacier melt. Tungsten and other critical minerals One of South Korea’s main interests is Tajikistan’s deposits of critical minerals, which are important for high-tech industries. The two countries had already begun discussing cooperation in this field before the summit. On August 12, Seoul hosted the first Tajik-Korean forum on critical minerals, where the sides discussed geological exploration, financing and supply chains. One of the most advanced projects concerns the Maykhura tungsten deposit , which is being developed by Korean company GB Innovation together with TALCO. The project envisages annual production of around 1,400 tons of tungsten concentrate . According to Tajik authorities,…