Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The European vector of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy is filled with new content thanks to the visits of the leaders of the European Union to Tashkent. After the recent Uzbek-French dialogue, the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella visited our country.

This is the first visit of the head of Italy to Uzbekistan in more than 20 years, which the two countries called historic, designed to strengthen the dialogue at the highest level and give new impetus to building up a comprehensive Uzbek-Italian strategic partnership.

During the negotiations, the parties substantively discussed the practical implementation of the agreements reached during the official visit of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Rome in June this year.

It was noted that increasing trade and economic interaction determines the main vector for further deepening bilateral relations.

In this context, the leaders agreed to develop a Comprehensive Trade Facilitation Program, which opens up broad prospects for the business communities of the two countries.

The high-ranking guest highly appreciated the reforms being carried out in our country, as well as the favorable investment and business climate.

It should be noted that in recent years, economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and Italy has gained new dynamics. Thus, since 2017, bilateral trade turnover has more than doubled – from US$172.2 million to US$379.2 million at the end of 2022.

At the same time, the trend towards accelerating the growth of mutual trade continues. Only in the first nine months of this year, this figure increased by 30%, reaching US$379.2 million. Today, Italy is one of the five largest trading partners of Uzbekistan in the European Union.

For more than thirty years, Italy, as a trusted partner of Uzbekistan, has been promoting the sustainable development of the country, modernization and diversification of its economy.

Italian business is consistently opening up the Uzbekistan market through investments, transfer of know-how and technology. Thanks to this, the number of enterprises in Uzbekistan with the participation of Italian capital has doubled to 52, covering new areas such as the mining sector, metallurgy, petrochemical and electrical industries, and production of building materials.

As a result, over the past four years, the volume of disbursed Italian investments has increased sevenfold - from US$7.1 million to US$49.6 million.

In order to stimulate industrial cooperation, during the past negotiations, an agreement was reached on the preparation, within the framework of the existing Intergovernmental Working Group on Trade, Economic and Industrial Cooperation, of proposals for new areas and localization projects.

It is gratifying to note that since October 2020, a branch of the Association of Italian Industry “Confindustria” has been opened in our country, productive relations are being maintained with such organizations as “SACE”, “SIMEST”, “Cassa Depositi e Prestiti”, “ICE”, “AICE” ", "Unioncamere", other industrial and regional associations.

The parties are confident that direct ties between the regions of the two countries will bring particular benefits. In order to intensify this area, it was proposed to establish a Forum of Regions of Uzbekistan and Italy and hold its first meeting in Samarkand in 2024.

It is noteworthy that a solid foundation has already been created for this work. Partnerships are actively developing between the Samarkand region and Lombardy, the Namangan region and the Marche region, in which the mutual intersection of economic sectors creates a good basis for the implementation of joint investment projects.

Moreover, the two countries have a good foundation for close cooperation in the field of sustainable development. Taking into account Italy’s vast experience in the fields of alternative energy and circular economy, as well as Uzbekistan’s desire to increase the share of renewable energy sources to 30% in the country’s energy balance by 2030, mutual interest in cooperation in promoting the “green” agenda and introducing energy-efficient and resource-saving technologies is growing.

Italian experts argue that Uzbekistan, along with sustainable economic growth and significant human potential, has a powerful resource and raw material base, which creates the necessary conditions for the development of industrial cooperation on an innovative and technological basis. In Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, from 5 to 40% of the reserves of such critical materials as manganese ore, chromium, lead, zinc, titanium, copper, cobalt and molybdenum are concentrated, the demand for which in the context of the transition to “green” and The digital economy is growing every year.

In general, the negotiations between the heads of Uzbekistan and Italy showed that relations between the countries in the trade and economic sphere are currently characterized by a growing convergence of interests in such areas as the development of mutual trade, investment, and the implementation of joint value-added cooperation projects. This creates good preconditions for bringing Uzbek-Italian relations to a qualitatively new level.

Moreover, the broad economic agenda meets the goals of diversifying foreign economic relations as an important condition for the stable and sustainable development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and also increases the investment attractiveness of our country at the global level.

Shakhnoza Kadyrova,

Chief Researcher of the ISMR under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan