BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 10
By Sadraddin Aghjayev - Trend:
Uzbekistan is interested in the development of investment and industrial cooperation with Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan told Trend.
The ministry stressed that the economies of the two countries have much in common and complement each other, which creates good preconditions for intensive interaction.
“It is also encouraging that Azerbaijani business circles are showing great interest in cooperation with Uzbek partners. This can be judged by the number of joint ventures created and operating in Uzbekistan (about 200). They are mainly employed in such areas as trade, mechanical engineering and metalworking, finance and insurance, real estate, energy, services, jewelry production and repair, food industry, light industry,” added the ministry.
The ministry stated that that over the past three years, within the State Investment Program in Uzbekistan, about $30 million of direct Azerbaijani investments have been spent, two-thirds of which fall on 2020.
The Uzbek ministry also said this year it expects an even greater inflow of investments from Azerbaijan, adding that both countries have great prospects for joint development of the markets of other countries.
“Opportunities are available in the electrical, mechanical engineering, textile, leather and footwear, pharmaceutical and food industries, the agricultural sector, as well as in the field of transport communications. During the eleventh meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission, it is planned to discuss in detail all the above areas of cooperation and determine plans for the near future,” the message of the ministry said.
“Recently, the development of cooperation between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite this, relations between the countries continue to progressively develop and strengthen,” the message said.
“We should especially note the contacts at the highest level, which set the vector for the development of bilateral cooperation. In particular, on October 14, 2019, on the sidelines of the meeting of the Council of Turkic-speaking States, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev held a working meeting, during which priority tasks were identified for the further development of mutually beneficial cooperation in promising areas,” according to the ministry.
“On December 11, 2020, during a telephone conversation between the heads of the two states, measures were discussed to enhance bilateral interaction in the post-pandemic period. In the course of the above contacts, special attention was paid to the issues of expanding business contacts at the level of leading companies and entrepreneurs of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. The presidents noted the importance of deepening cooperation in industry, agriculture, transport and other priority sectors,” the message reads.
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