BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 16
Trend:
Uzbekistan’s Navoi free economic zone also creates a good basis for deepening cooperation with Azerbaijan in the transport and communication sphere, Uzbek Ambassador to Azerbaijan Bahrom Ashrafkhanov said in an interview to Azerbaijan’s Region Plus weekly analytical magazine, Trend reports.
According to Ashrafkhanov, diversification of routes for the supply of manufactured goods to foreign markets is an urgent task for the rapidly growing economy of Uzbekistan.
“Azerbaijan, under the leadership of respected President Ilham Aliyev, has made great strides in developing transport and transit infrastructure, realizing the country's potential and becoming its major transit hub between North and South, West and East. In this context, it is necessary to pay attention to the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the Baku International Seaport in Alat, large-scale work on the construction of new and repair of existing roads,” Ashrafkhanov says.
“We see great prospects for cooperation in the field of transport since the listed infrastructure is actively used by us for the transportation of Uzbek goods both to Azerbaijan and to third countries.
He also believes that cooperation in the field of transport between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan will continue to expand.
“These forecasts are based on the fact that in April of this year, Uzbekistan became a member of the GSP + system of preferences, which allows duty-free export of 6,200 types of goods to the European Union. This suggests that the volume of goods exported by our country to Europe will grow rapidly, and Uzbekistan intends to use the most optimal cost and delivery routes,” he said.
“We hope that Baku is also interested in using the potential of Tashkent, which is located in the very heart of Central Asia and has enormous economic and strategic opportunities. In this regard, I would like to note that such projects as the railways Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan - China, Mazar-i-Sharif - Kabul - Peshawar, aimed at unlocking the huge transport and transit potential of Eurasia, in the future may give Azerbaijan additional supply routes in the direction of Eastern and South Asia,” the ambassador added.
In addition, the ambassador said that Navoi free economic zone creates a good basis for deepening cooperation between our countries in the transport and communication sphere.
“Located at the most important intersection of the road, rail and air routes, the airport of Navoi city connects the countries of Southeast Asia with Central and South Asia, the Middle East, as well as the states of the European continent. The joint construction of new production facilities here, work on the implementation of intercontinental air transportation in the future will be especially beneficial for Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan,” Ashrafkhanov stressed.
