Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 7 September, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Shahlo Turdikulova held negotiations with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy E. Cirielli within the framework of the International Conference on Food Security, which is being held in Samarkand.

During the meeting, issues of further development of bilateral cooperation were discussed. In particular, E. Cirielli emphasized the importance of strengthening ties between higher educational institutions of the two countries, spreading the teaching of the Italian language in Uzbekistan, and improving the qualifications of Italian language teachers.

Sh. Turdikulova, in turn, proposed to accelerate cooperation in the field of start-ups and innovations between Uzbekistan and Italy. The participation of Uzbek startups at the prestigious international conference "World Startup Fest" (WSF) was discussed. This event will bring together 36,000 visitors, 1,000 promising startups and more than 700 investors on one platform. More than 100 speakers will perform on the main stage, and their presentations will cover issues of AI and robotics, virtual and augmented realities, smart cities, sustainable development, big data and digital transformation.

An exchange of views also took place on the internship of vice-rectors for science and innovation of higher educational institutions of Uzbekistan in universities in Italy. In addition, given the leadership of Italy in the field of architecture, construction and textiles, the need to strengthen cooperation between universities in these areas was emphasized.