Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Uzbekistan and Russia are opening an Expert Center for Strategic Initiatives. The founding agreement on the creation of the Center was signed in Tashkent.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, the Center for Strategic Initiatives will be located in Tashkent. The founding agreement was signed by the acting rector of the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia Vittoria Idrisova and the director of the Research Center “Scientific Foundations and Problems of Economic Development of Uzbekistan” at the Tashkent State Economic University Mukhiddin Kalonov.

Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov expressed hope that the new center will become a leading center of expertise on issues of domestic and foreign economic policy of Uzbekistan. The center will develop trade, economic and investment cooperation between Russia and Uzbekistan, as well as help unite the efforts of representatives of business, authorities, financial institutions, the scientific and expert community to solve strategic problems of the socio-economic development of the republic.

The center will give impetus to the development of bilateral contacts. Experts will analyze the market and select promising business projects and initiatives. A pool of first projects has already been selected, and a team is being formed to implement them.

The possibility of organizing retraining courses for civil servants at the center is also being considered in order to meet the republic’s demand for this category of specialists. Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia Dmitry Volvach added that the Center will engage in personnel work and participate in the training of highly qualified specialists in the field of agriculture, which will affect labor productivity in this area.

Vittoria Idrisova reported that this year the center will coordinate four scientific studies conducted jointly by scientific teams from Russia and Uzbekistan to address key issues on the current socio-economic agenda. She expressed confidence that the joint work of scientists from the two countries will increase the practical value of research and expand opportunities for joint projects, including in the field of education.

Research will be devoted to current issues in Uzbekistan: optimizing existing and creating new measures to support investment activities, assessing current and forecasting future needs for energy resources, analyzing the efficiency of water use, eliminating obstacles in Russian-Uzbek trade and creating infrastructure for doubling mutual trade turnover with Russia.

Mukhiddin Kalonov emphasized that the goal of creating the Center for Strategic Initiatives is to promote the economic growth of Russia and Uzbekistan, the development of trade, economic and investment cooperation between the countries, as well as deepening cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats. Center employees will study advanced Russian and world experience in public administration and institutional development, applied in the economy of Uzbekistan, and develop proposals for the implementation of best practices within the framework of the Uzbekistan-2030 program.