South Korea and the five Central Asian states launched their first C5+1 industry ministers’ meeting in Seoul on Monday, opening a new multilateral channel focused on industry and supply chains. The six governments agreed to deepen cooperation in industrial infrastructure, critical minerals and manufacturing technology, including projects that would move beyond raw-material imports toward local refining, higher-value processing and finished production.

The government also convened the first minister-level meeting bringing together South Korea and all five Central Asian states on AI and science, while Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol saidahead of this week’s leaders’ summit that Seoul would pursue cooperation