한국의 정부와 기업들은 그동안 중앙아시아 자원에너지 부문에 진출하기 위해 노력해 왔으나, 러시아, 중국, 미국, 일본, 유럽 등의 국가들이 달성한 성과에 비해서는 미흡한 결과를 거두었다고 할 수 있다. 그러나 이 국가들이 오랫동안 이 지역 진출을 위해 노력해온 것을 고려할 때, 한국 정부와 기업이 실질적인 관심을 갖고 진출을 시도한 것은 최근 몇 년에불과하므로, 향후 장기적인 차원에서 진출을 계획하고 실행에 옮긴다면 전망은 어둡지 않을 것이다. 앞으로의 투자를 위해서는 중앙아시아 지역의 자원에너지 현황과 각국의 에너지전략, 투자 관련법과 세제 등을 면밀히 조사하고 분석하여야 할 것이다. 또한 국제 에너지자원 수송망의 계획과 건설을 비롯한 주변 국가들과의 협력사업도 파악할 필요가 있다.
Korea imports most of its energy resources from the Middle East. In particular, the region supplies Korea with 80 percent of its oil. Yet, this region is unstable due to various political, territorial, and religious issues. Under these circumstances, the Korean government perceives the need to diversify its sources of energy resources and is attempting to secure these resources in regions such as Central Asia, Russia, Latin America, and Africa. The Central Asian region contains abundant natural resources. In particular, four countries in the region; namely, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan possess large amount of oil and gas. The Korean government and corporations have sought to secure these resources. But these efforts were not so successful compared with those by other countries such as Russia, China, the United States, and Europe. This does not necessarily mean that prospects for Korea are bleak. The country only recently began to invest in Central Asia's oil and gas industry. Therefore, if Seoul conceives an appropriate long-term strategy followed by consistent implementation, there is much likelihood of success in this region. To improve this chance, Korea needs to fully understand Central Asia's present conditions such as its energy resources, its transportation routes, tax systems, and investment environments. This report suggests several policy guidelines for improving Korea's chances of success in the Central Asia region. First, Korea needs to promote political ties with Central Asian countries. To do this, the Korean government must not only employ summit diplomacy, but also maintain regular contacts with officials and opinion leaders from those countries. …