President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began his five-day long visits to Uzbekistan and South Korea yesterday, as he left for the Uzbek capital Tashkent. President Erdoğan will discuss regional ties with the presidents of the two countries, while the economy is set to be the main topic on the agenda. The visits are also expected to witness the signing of a number of agreements between the countries. Speaking at Istanbul Atatürk Airport, ahead of his three-day visit to central Asian country Uzbekistan, President Erdoğan said that within the scope of the visit, he will meet with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and attend the Turkey-Uzbekistan Business Forum with his counterpart. During the visit, where a number of bilateral commercial agreements are expected to be signed, major tourism facilities that will significantly contribute to Uzbekistan's economy are also expected to be inaugurated.

In addition to investments in culture and tourism, investment infrastructures in the fields of agriculture and the food industry, construction materials, food processing and agricultural machinery, main and auxiliary automotive industries, textiles, the pharmaceutical industry, chemistry and mining will be evaluated.

The Turkish business world expects Erdoğan's visit and his delegation to contribute to an increase in mutual investments between the two countries and improve economic relations.

Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) Turkey-Uzbekistan Business Council Chairman Izzet Ekmekçibaşı indicated that besides sectors such as construction, textiles and food, cooperation in storage, processing, packaging and military fields will be discussed during the president's visit.

"New tenders will be realized for many infrastructure projects that are a priority for Uzbekistan. We can list investments such as water, sewage, dam construction, energy and textile, vegetable, fruit storage, cold storage and integrated meat plant projects as new opportunities for Turkish investors," he added.

Ekmekçibaşı pointed out that countries such as China and South Korea have a say in the Uzbekistan market because they provide low-interest loans.

"Uzbekistan offers low-cost labor to Turkish businesspeople with a population of about 32 million." said.

Russia, Turkey and South Korea-owned companies lead the way in Uzbekistan where 5,000 companies with foreign capital operate.

In the country, where 433 Turkish companies operate, investments made since 1991 stood at approximately $700 million. Turkish contracting firms have undertaken important projects in Uzbekistan.

Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Afghanistan and Turkey come to the fore in Uzbekistan's exports, while the country realizes its imports mostly from Russia, China, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Germany.

Improving diplomatic relations between Turkey and Uzbekistan are also reflected in the trade between the two countries, which rose from about $1.4 billion in 2013 to $1.5 billion last year.

Turkey's exports to Uzbekistan surged by 21 percent in 5 years. Exports to Uzbekistan reached $680.2 million last year, while imports from this country reached $823.3 million in the same period, an increase of 1 percent.

Elaborating on the visit, the Uzbek ambassador in Ankara said he had great expectations from President Erdoğan's visit to Uzbekistan.

"Twenty agreements are expected to be signed during the meetings between leaders of the two countries," Alisher Agzamhadjaev said.

He said during the times when Uzbek-Turkish relations had deteriorated, some businesses were unjustly shut down.

"Our support to recover these [losses] will continue," Agzamhadjaev said.

The envoy also expected help from the Turkish construction sector in building new hotels in Uzbekistan and added that visa-free travel for Turkish citizens had boosted the tourism sector in Uzbekistan. "An agreement was reached to start flights from Istanbul to the cities of Bukhara, Qarshi and Urgench. They will launch soon."

Agzamhadjaev added that existing flights between Istanbul-Tashkent and Istanbul-Samarkand would also increase and there will be flights from Tashkent to Ankara, İzmir and Antalya.

Agzamhadjaev said Uzbekistan wants to reach the Marmaray railway line in Istanbul via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad to connect to Europe.

Erdoğan to meet top executives of Korean companies

After Uzbekistan, Erdoğan will travel to South Korea, one of the world's largest economies, tomorrow evening.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Erdoğan said within the scope of the visit to the Republic of Korea, with whom Turkey has historical and special ties, on May 2, he would meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to have a private meeting and carry out a meeting between the delegations.

"The Republic of Korea is a worldwide player in technology. With this visit, I will have numerous meetings with top executives of leading Korean companies. During the visit, we will exchange views on improving our cooperation in the future. Besides bilateral relations, we will discuss regional and international issues as well," Erdoğan said.

Erdoğan is also expected to deliver messages concerning the continuation and increase of investments. The Kanal Istanbul project, a canal parallel to the Bosporus to connect the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, which South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon previously announced they were interested in, is expected to be one of the topics discussed during the president's contacts in South Korea.

As of 2016, the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and South Korea was $6.4 billion according to Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) data.