On September 28-29, 2017, the newly established Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat, under the administration of the Korea Foundation, co-hosted the Korea-Tajikistan Health and Medical Caravan Event in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, the Korea-Central Asia Friendship Association, and Medicity Daegu.

The event was part of the 7th Korea-Central Asia Caravan Event, an annual private-public public diplomacy project between the Republic of Korea and Central Asian countries aimed to promote mutual understanding and comprehensive cooperation across various fields, including politics, business and culture. On the first day, the government of the city of Daegu(Korea) and the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Republic of Tajikistan signed an MOU on establishing comprehensive cooperation in the health and medical industry and initiate Medicity Daegu’s masterclass program in Tajikistan.

Following the signing of the agreement, a conference on health and medical cooperation was held, where participants discussed the take medical technology in the field of maternal and children’s health, especially infant’s health, to a much higher level. To that end, the two parties agreed to cooperate to improve the relevant system, building infrastructure, and transferring technology as soon as possible. They also discussed the founding of a company to process some 4,500 species of medicinal plants native to Tajikistan, and the establishment of a partnership in traditional medicine.

During the reception entitled “A Night of Friendship between Korea and Tajikistan”, held on the same day, Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister, Mr. Lim Sung-nam, and Tajikistan’s First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Nizomiddin Zokhidi, expressed their satisfaction with the level of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, and their gratitude to the health and medical delegation and the art troupe from Korea for their visit to Tajikistan.

On the last day of the event, the Korean delegation visited a children’s cancer center operated by Ms. Ozoda Rahmon, a senator of the Tajik parliament, chief of staff of the government, and daughter of president Emomali Rahmon. The Korean delegation donated medicines for pediatric patients with severe cases of cancer. The donation was made possible, with support from the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat and Medicity Daegu. Mr. Huseynov Zafar Khabibulloevich, director of the Republican Oncology Center in Dushanbe, which is affiliated with Tajik Ministry of Health and Social Protection, expressed his gratitude to the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat and Medicity Daegu for their kind donation of indispensable medicines for child patients.

Recently, there has been a growing trend in Central Asia to receive medical treatment abroad. Amidst competition for medical tourists among India, Russia, Turkey and other neighbors of Central Asian countries, the recent Caravan event was expected to contribute to attracting medical tourists to Korea and sounding out the possibility of local governments’ initiatives to promote Korean medical institutions’ advance in Tajikistan.