President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov traveled on Friday to Karakalpakstan to view construction of the Ustyurt Gas Chemical Complex, a project being developed with South Korea.

The complex is a project in the hydrocarbon sphere. The financial agreement on the scheme was named the best in the petrochemical and gas-chemical sector in 2012 by Project Finance International.

"It is not accidental that we have been realizing such a major and unique project jointly with the Republic of Korea," Karimov said. "Uzbekistan considers the Republic of Korea an advanced modern nation that wields immense economic, industrial and intellectual potential, and we highly value the robust and mutually advantageous partnership established between our two countries."

The project was funded with $1.4 billion in direct investments from founders of the joint venture. The founders include South Korean companies Kogas, Lotte Сhemical and STX Energy, along with Uzbekistan's Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company. Other companies that were involved in the funding include the Asian Development Bank, Korea Development Bank, Korea Finance Corporation, China Development Bank, ING, Hermes, KfW, Bayern LB, Siemens Bank, Credit Suisse, EKN and Nordea.

The export-import agencies of South Korea, Germany and Sweden provided insurance cover for the banks funding the project.