BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 27
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
Some 195 enterprises with participation of Azerbaijani capital are operating in Uzbekistan, 69 of them are joint ventures and the rest of them are operating with 100 percent of Azerbaijani capital, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan, Bakhrom Ashrafkhanov told Trend in an interview.
According to him, some 19 new enterprises with participation of the Azerbaijani capital were created in Uzbekistan in the first half of 2020.
"Their main spheres of activity are trade, mechanical engineering and metal processing, finance, and insurance, real estate operations, energy, services, production and repair of jewelry, food industry, light industry. I will also note that we have not only manufacturing companies, but also high-tech companies engaged in artificial intelligence, informatization, e-government, etc.," said ambassador Ashrafkhanov.
"Taking into account the intensification of trade-economic and investment cooperation between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, we hope that the number of joint ventures will continue to increase," stated the ambassador.
Ashrafkhanov also noted that the development of cooperation in tourism is no less a priority in the Uzbek agenda.
Uzbekistan has 7,300 cultural heritage sites in the country, which makes over 90 percent of all historical monuments in the region. More than 500 of them are included in tourist routes. Among the main pearls are monuments in Bukhara, Samarkand, Khiva, and Shahrisabz.
"Over the past four years, at the initiative of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan has been implementing large-scale reforms in all spheres of life, including tourism, which has been identified as a priority and strategic sector of the economy. As part of this activity, active measures are being taken to improve the tourism potential, including the promotion of pilgrimage tourism, as well as provide many benefits and incentives for market participants," said ambassador Ashrafkhanov.
He noted the increased dynamics of tourist flow from Azerbaijan as well, and according to him, it increases annually by almost 20 percent.
"It is pleasant to note that contacts between administrations of tourism of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan have recently become more frequent, within the framework of which the agreement on promotion of mutually beneficial cooperation in this direction was reached. Important in this context is the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in July 2019 in Baku on education and science between the Silk Road International University of Tourism and the Azerbaijan University of Tourism and Management," said the Ambassador.
On August 25, 2020, the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Azerbaijan held an event to mark the 22nd anniversary of Uzbek diplomatic mission in Baku. The event was attended by diplomats of the Embassy (including Ambassador Ashrafkhanov himself), employees of representative offices of Uzbekistan Airways JSC, and UzAuto Motors JSC in Azerbaijan, citizens of Uzbekistan living in Baku, as well as representatives of local media.
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