BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 8. Uzbekistan and UK studied prospects for intensifying investment cooperation in a number of areas,Trend reports via Uzbek Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade.
The mentioned matters were discussed in a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports of UK Mike Freer.
The British delegation also included representatives of the London Stock Exchange and Standard Chartered and TheCityUk financial corporations.
During the meeting, the current state and prospects for deepening the Uzbek-British partnership in the field of investment, trade and industry were discussed.
The parties noted positive trends in the development of mutual trade. So, in 2021 the volume of trade between the two countries increased by 65 percent, while exports from Uzbekistan to the UK increased by 2.5 times.This was facilitated by Uzbekistan's obtaining the status of a beneficiary of the Great Britain's Enhanced Generalized System of Preferences scheme (“GSP Enhanced Framework”).
The positive dynamics in bilateral trade continues in 2022: from January through April, trade increased by 68 percent compared to the same period last year, while Uzbek exports to the United Kingdom increased by 2.6 times.
During the meeting, it was emphasized that over the past few years, the number of British enterprises operating in Uzbekistan has increased by 40 percent.
The prospects for cooperation in the framework of attracting new British companies to implement projects in the field of processing agricultural products, animal husbandry, biopharmaceuticals, the textile industry, information and communication technologies and green energy were discussed.