Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Ambassador of the European Union to Uzbekistan Charlotte Adriaen payed a first visit to Fergana during on 18-19 July 2023. 

Within the mission she attended the Youth Forum of Central Asia “Bridges of Friendship in the Fergana Valley” organized within the EU-funded regional project “Cross-Border and Cross-Sector Dialogue for Tolerance and Peace in Central Asia”, implemented by a consortium led by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation together with three national partners: the Ecological Movement “BIOM” (Kyrgyzstan), the National Movement “Yuksalish” (Uzbekistan) and the Public Organization “Gender and Development” (Tajikistan). 

The Forum brought together representatives of government agencies, youth leaders, and experts from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and provided an opportunity for the youth representatives of the Central Asian countries to discuss the role of youth in regional integration for building peace and participate in debates.

Welcoming the participants Ambassador of the European Union to Uzbekistan Charlotte Adriaen underlined,

“We stand firmly for promoting of a culture of a diversified participation of youth in the policy-formulating process.” 

The Ambassador also met with representatives of the regional government – Khokimiyat – and was briefed on the region, its economy, social development, environmental issues and exchanged views on opportunities of strengthening cooperation within the existing projects and mechanisms like the General System of Preferences (GSP+). As a member of the GSP + system, Uzbekistan benefits due to the complete cancellation of tariffs for two-thirds of the product lines covered by the GSP, which, in turn, can promote export growth.

Another priority of cooperation between the EU and Uzbekistan is enhancing skills and knowledge of young people in Uzbekistan through the experience exchange and educational programmes. Thus, the next meeting was held at the Fergana Polytechnic Institute where the ERASMUS + Programme, funded by the European Commission is being implemented.

The Ambassador also paid a monitoring visit to the EU funded Fergana Valley Water Resources Management project aimed at support for agricultural modernization through a combination of direct training activities, information dissemination, technology demonstrations, experience sharing activities, and implementation of new water and resource saving technologies at the pilot districts.  

Within the mission agenda Ambassador met with the two partner NGOs “Tarakkiyot” and “Mekhrjon”, working on the EU-funded projects to support rural communities and on gender equality, gender based violence issues.

European Union established relations with Uzbekistan since the country’s independence in 1991. The EU provides financial assistance to Uzbekistan, primarily for promoting economic development; effective governance; digital transformation; digital and green growth; development of sustainable agriculture and food sector.