Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — During the ongoing 9th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Samarkand, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade Laziz Kudratov held a meeting with Iran’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Abdolnaser Hemmati.

The discussion focused on current issues related to Uzbek-Iranian trade, economic, and investment cooperation. Both sides acknowledged the need to overcome various trade barriers, particularly those related to logistics, customs procedures, and insufficient information exchange.

They explored prospects for implementing joint projects in energy, construction, infrastructure, agriculture, and the food industry.

During the meeting, an agreement was reached to establish joint working groups aimed at developing new trade routes, simplifying customs procedures, and creating an electronic trading platform to boost mutual trade volumes.

Plans are also in place for the 16th session of the Intergovernmental Joint Commission between Uzbekistan and Iran, as well as a joint business forum, which will invite major Iranian companies to strengthen collaboration between the business communities of both countries.

Additionally, agreements were reached to expedite the development of bilateral documents related to insurance and to establish mechanisms for joint financing of large projects.

Both parties expressed confidence that enhancing trade and investment cooperation between Uzbekistan and Iran would contribute to the economic growth of both countries and create new jobs.