The vice chief of Korea's financial regulator, Kim So-young, last week spent four days in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan facilitating overseas business expansions by Korean financial firms and joint investments, The Korea Times has reported.

In Kyrgyzstan, BC Card, Smartro―a Korea-headquartered electronic payment settlement company―and the Interbank Processing Center (IPC), a state-run subsidiary of the Kyrgyzstani central bank, reportedly inked a business agreement that aims for joint investment in establishing an electronic payment infrastructure.

The deal was hailed as the first cooperative agreement in the field of electronic payment infrastructure between the Korean financial industry and a Central Asia counterpart.

"We hope to see an expansion of mutual exchanges between financial authorities as well as deepened partnership in the area of financial infrastructure of the two countries," Kim, vice chairman of Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), was reported as saying.

Kim also attended the opening ceremony of a Korean financial firm in Bishkek. BNK Finance, a Kyrgyzstani subsidiary of BNK Capital, was launched as the first Korean financial firm to make inroads into the country.

Prior to his time in Kyrgyzstan, Kim spent two days in Uzbekistan, where he attended a signing ceremony between Fintech Center Korea and the Fintech Association of Uzbekistan. He was also present at a joint seminar hosted by both countries' banking associations ― the Korea Federation of Banks and the Uzbekistan Banking Association.

Given that the fintech scene in Uzbekistan is just starting to grow, it is anticipated that Korea's fintech enterprises will share their business acumen and latest technologies, ranging from blockchain-based payments to certification solution technologies, the Korean newspaper wrote.