Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 30 January, a round table on the topic “Cooperation between Uzbekistan and Belarus - new horizons and prospects” was held in Tashkent in a hybrid format, organized by the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISMI) in partnership with the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISI).

The event was attended by the heads of diplomatic missions in Uzbekistan and Belarus, leadership and representatives of expert-analytical and scientific-academic circles of the two countries.

The Belarusian side was represented by leaders and experts from such authoritative research institutes as BISI, the National Center for Marketing and Price Research, the Belarusian State University of Transport, Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov and other institutions.

From the Uzbek side, the heads of ISMI, the Institute of Macroeconomic and Regional Studies, the Information and Analytical Center for International Relations, the Center for Economic Research and Reforms, the Center for Studying Problems of Transport and Logistics Development, the Uzbekistan Temir Yollari Joint Stock Company, and the Agency of Information and Mass Communications took part.

As noted by First Deputy Director of ISMI Akramjon Nematov, during the round table a detailed exchange of views was held on the current state and prospects for further development of bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade, economics, investment, industrial cooperation, transport and logistics interconnectedness, as well as the expansion of cultural and humanitarian dialogue.

According to the expert, the participants were unanimous in the opinion that trusting and friendly relations between Uzbekistan and Belarus have reached a completely new level in recent years.

In many ways, this became possible thanks to mutual visits of the heads of the two states and their regular communication on international platforms.

Since 2017, several meetings between the leaders of the two states have taken place. President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko paid an official visit to Uzbekistan in 2018 and a working visit in 2022. In turn, the head of Uzbekistan Sherzod Mirziyoyev visited Belarus in 2019.

At the same time, an important role in strengthening cooperation is played by active dialogue maintained at the intergovernmental, interparliamentary, and interdepartmental levels.

Since 2022, regular meetings have been held between the heads of the two governments. There is an Intergovernmental Commission on Bilateral Cooperation. Meetings of the Uzbek-Belarusian Business Council and the Working Group on Agriculture and Food Industry are held regularly.

Interparliamentary ties are expanding. Since 2018, the Interparliamentary Group on Cooperation between the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus has been operating.

In 2018, an official visit of the delegation of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Belarus took place. In 2022, the parliamentary delegation of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus took part in the events of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member States in Samarkand. In 2023, parliamentarians of Uzbekistan visited Minsk. Legislators of the two countries cooperate within the framework of such international organizations as the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and the Interparliamentary Union.

Contacts are maintained through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In recent years, 3 meetings of the heads of foreign affairs agencies have taken place. Inter-Ministry of Foreign Affairs consultations are conducted on an ongoing basis.

Akramjon Nematov emphasized that the proactive measures taken by the two states to expand interaction gave powerful dynamics to trade relations between Uzbekistan and Belarus. In recent years, trade, economic and investment cooperation between countries has shown strong, stable growth.

“It is thanks to joint efforts that in recent years, for the first time in the history of bilateral relations, trade turnover has exceeded the half-billion mark,” the expert believes. At the end of 2022, the volume of mutual trade amounted to US$536 million (an increase of 44% compared to 2021) and increased by almost 3.5 times compared to 2017. At the end of 2023, trade turnover increased by 15 % compared to the same period in 2022 and amounted to US$620 million.

The main export items of Uzbekistan to Belarus are industrial goods, various finished products, food products, drinks and tobacco products.

The bulk of imports from the Republic of Belarus are food products, machinery and transport equipment, as well as non-food raw materials. At the same time, most of the imports account for vehicles and electrical equipment necessary for modernizing the industrial sector of our country’s economy.
Belarusian investors demonstrate interest in Uzbekistan by investing heavily in the production of cotton yarn, building materials, pharmaceuticals, leather goods, and the provision of trade intermediary and freight forwarding services.

During the event, it was stated that the total volume of Belarusian investments over the past 3 years has increased 3 times and amounted to US$45.6 million, including US$9.5 million in 2022 and US$21.2 million in 2023 (January-October). At the same time, there are all the prerequisites for increasing this figure. A serious commitment to deepening cooperation is demonstrated by the number of joint ventures.

Thus, if in 2017 the number of enterprises operating in Uzbekistan with the participation of Belarusian capital was 22, including 19 joint ventures, and 3 individual entrepreneurs, today their number has increased to 209, including 65 joint ventures and 146 individual entrepreneurs. In turn, more than 100 joint ventures are currently operating in Belarus.

According to Tursun Akhmedov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic and Regional Studies, the first bilateral women’s business forum held in Minsk in 2023 became an effective tool for developing business cooperation between Belarus and Uzbekistan. As a result, 42 contracts were signed for a total amount of US$92.2 million and 17 memorandums of cooperation in trade, economic, investment, scientific, technical, socio-cultural, educational, humanitarian, tourism and other fields.

The countries express interest in opportunities to expand cooperation in the field of mechanical engineering. Together with Belarusian partners, we are supplying transport and special equipment to our country.

Cooperation in the field of healthcare has been established and is developing successfully. In 2018, an agreement was signed between the ministries of health of the two countries, and an Action Plan for the development of cooperation is being implemented. Over the past 2 years, training practice has been established in Belarus, doctors from Uzbekistan in providing high-tech care to newborns.

Cooperation in the pharmaceutical industry is deepening. Today, the parties jointly produce medicines. A clear example in this regard is the construction by the Belarusian side in Uzbekistan of an enterprise for the production of probiotics.

The countries are productively interacting in the development of light industry. In 2023, enterprises from Uzbekistan and Belarus signed contracts worth more than US$2.5 million. The parties plan to create a joint venture for the production of sheepskin-fur, astrakhan-smushko, fur and fur raw materials. An agreement was reached on cooperation between the Uztekstilprom association and the design center of Kamvol OJSC.

Interregional ties have noticeably intensified in recent years, and direct business contacts between the regions of Uzbekistan and Belarus are being successfully implemented. The forums are held alternately in the two countries. The first Forum of Regions of Belarus and Uzbekistan took place in 2019 during the visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Minsk.

This made it possible to bring the work of special partnership programs between the khokimiyats of the regions of Uzbekistan and the regions of Belarus to a high level of efficiency. In February 2020, delegations of farmers representing all regions of Belarus visited Uzbekistan to participate in the Uzbek-Belarusian Agrarian Forum.

Contracts have been signed for the supply of Uzbek agricultural products to Belarus for US$25 million. In 2022–2023. visits to Belarus were organized for the administration and business circles of Tashkent, Kashkadarya, Andijan, Ferghana and Tashkent regions.

At the same time, there is a consistent strengthening of interaction between the two states in the transport and logistics sector. Thus, in 2023, cargo transportation between the two countries amounted to over 752 thousand tons, showing growth dynamics of 1.54 times compared to the same period in 2022.

According to the head of the department of the Information and Analytical Center for International Relations, Nigina Magdieva, the intensification of bilateral dialogue is also directly manifested in the field of cultural and humanitarian cooperation.

In recent years, creative groups from Belarus have been actively participating in the music festival “Sharq Taronalari” (“Melodies of the East”), and representatives of Uzbekistan have been participating in the international festivals “Slavic Bazaar” in Vitebsk and “Golden Bee”, as well as in the Minsk International Vocal Competition.

In April 2018, the Days of Culture and Cinema of Belarus in Uzbekistan were held in Tashkent, and in July 2019, the Days of Culture and Art of Uzbekistan in Belarus. In September 2021, the Days of Uzbek Cinema were organized in Minsk with the demonstration of a number of films by Uzbek filmmakers.

Filmmakers from both countries actively participate in international film festivals in Tashkent and Minsk.

In addition, a monument to the classic of Belarusian literature Yakub Kolas was unveiled in Tashkent, and a street was named in his honor. And in one of the parks in Minsk there is a bust of the great Uzbek poet, thinker and statesman Alisher Navoi.

Cooperation in the field of education is developing dynamically. About 40 universities in Uzbekistan and more than 20 universities in Belarus have launched joint educational programs to train specialists in the areas most in demand in Uzbekistan. In the 2022-2023 academic year, about 1.7 thousand Uzbek students are studying at 27 universities in Belarus.

More than 80 joint educational programs are being implemented, under which students undergo training and receive dual diplomas – from the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Uzbekistan.

A symbol of successful cooperation between the two states in the field of education and science was the 1st Forum of Rectors of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Belarus, held in 2023, as a result of which the “Road Map of Cooperation” was signed.

At the same time, both states have unique opportunities and potential in the tourism sector. Representatives of the tourism industry of Uzbekistan and Belarus carry out close cooperation within the framework of exhibition sites organized in the two countries. As a result, from 2017 to 2023, the tourist flow from Belarus to Uzbekistan increased 5 times.

At the end of the round table, its participants expressed confidence that despite the dynamics of cooperation, there is every opportunity for further deepening bilateral interaction. Uzbekistan and Belarus have enormous untapped potential that requires detailed study and practical implementation.

In this context, Uzbekistan is interested in further expanding trade and economic cooperation with the Belarusian side, developing transport infrastructure and building logistics routes, deepening cultural and humanitarian ties and interregional dialogue, increasing tourist flows, etc.

Another key area could be joint cooperation with Belarusian partners between the leading sectors of the Uzbek and Belarusian industries, the creation of joint industrial and pharmaceutical clusters, the integration of information technology and communications, as well as the integration of existing capabilities of the agro-industrial complex.