Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are looking for new ways of economic partnership

On January 17 this year, in Tashkent, within the framework of the visit of the government delegation of Turkmenistan to the Republic of Uzbekistan, a meeting was held between the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan S. Umurzakov and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan S. Berdimuhamedov.

The event was also attended by heads of key ministries, departments, industry associations, and chambers of commerce and industry of the two countries.

During the meeting, an exchange of views took place on the current state of bilateral cooperation in the investment, industrial, trade and economic, transport and logistics, cultural and humanitarian fields, as well as in the areas of water use, interregional cooperation, and food security. The course of implementation of previously reached agreements was substantively reviewed and the possibilities of further deepening cooperation in promising areas were studied.

The parties noted significant progress in the development of bilateral trade: for example, over the past 4 years, trade between the two countries has increased 5 times, and in 2021 it increased by 65 percent, amounting to about $880 million. Mutual readiness was expressed to intensify joint work to promote the implementation of existing trade contracts and establish partnerships between entrepreneurs and manufacturers of the two countries in order to increase the volume of mutual trade to $1 billion in the near future.

A special place in the dialogue was given to further measures to develop industrial cooperation. The parties emphasized the success achieved in this direction in certain sectors and indicated a mutual interest in developing new proposals for the implementation of joint projects aimed at creating high-tech industries and forming interconnected value chains in the territories of the two states.

The importance of joint efforts to promote the potential of interregional cooperation was also noted. The parties discussed measures to prepare for the first Forum of the Regions of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan this year, which is designed to become a platform for establishing direct ties between the administrations and business circles of the two countries.

In addition, a number of issues were substantively considered in the areas of water management, cooperation and implementation of joint projects in the field of transport, development of a network of common transport corridors and building up the transit potential of the two countries, implementation of joint programs in the field of culture and tourism.

During the meeting, an agreement was reached on the exchange of experience in improving the efficiency of agricultural land use, introducing international food quality standards, and ensuring food security.

At the end of the event, the parties expressed their readiness to continue active interaction in all considered areas of cooperation aimed at strengthening the multilateral partnership between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

As a result of the meeting, a number of investment and export agreements were signed between the business entities of the two countries in the fields of agriculture, electrical engineering, the chemical industry, and the production of building materials.

 

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