MINSK, 5 September (BelTA) – Belarus and Uzbekistan have almost tripled their trade over five years, Belarus’ Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said as he met with Chairwoman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbayeva on 5 September, BelTA has learned.

“Uzbekistan is a key partner of Belarus in Central Asia. We are very happy to have cordial relations at all levels - at the level of the heads of state, government, at the inter-parliamentary level. Now that we mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic contacts, it is a good occasion to look into the past and outline plans for the future. Our bilateral relations are experiencing their heyday. A testimony to that is a very efficient political dialogue and mutual support in the international arena, which is very important in the current conditions, as well as robust trade and vibrant economic cooperation in general. Our trade has nearly tripled within five years. This is quite an achievement. This year is no exception – the trade has expanded by almost 50%,” said Roman Golovchenko.

He noted that Belarus fully made up for the losses resulting from the sanctions by intensifying cooperation with friendly nations. “Uzbekistan holds an important place in our international relations. We appreciate your balanced and constructive approach,” the prime minister added.

Roman Golovchenko emphasized the importance of the ongoing Belarus-Uzbekistan Women’s Business Forum for bilateral relations.

“We are really pleased to see vibrant inter-parliamentary cooperation, this is very important,” the Belarusian head of government stressed.

Tanzila Narbayeva doubled down on that saying that the bilateral relations intensified, and the heads of state set a pace for that. “It is necessary to have a legal groundwork for the implementation of highest-level agreements, which is why the parliamentary dimension is so important. We need to align our laws, ensure parliamentary control over the implementation of agreements. We pay much attention to interregional contacts and cooperation in the social field. However, the priority is given to economy, we have everything in place to grow trade,” she emphasized.