Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In continuation of the business program of the state visit to the People’s Republic of China, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, together with the Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangdong Province Huang Kunming, took part in the joint Investment Forum held in the city of Shenzhen.

The head of Uzbekistan held such meetings with leading representatives of business, financial and investment circles in China as part of his state visit to this country in May last year. Breakthrough contact agreements have made it possible to significantly expand the trade, economic and investment partnership between our countries.

A continuation of the fruitful dialogue was the current investment forum, which brought together the heads of departments and regions of the two countries, and more than 600 representatives of large Chinese businesses. Among them are the top management of the Chinese National Oil and Gas Corporation, the National Chemical Engineering Company, the Aerospace Scientific and Industrial Corporation, the companies China Energy, Gezhouba Group, China CAMC Engineering, Huawei Technologies, SANY Renewable Energy, BYD Auto Industry, Xinjiang Hualing Group, ZTE, TBEA, Universal Energy, China Development Bank, State Development Bank, Exim Bank of China and many others.

Opening the forum, the head of our state warmly welcomed all participants and noted the symbolism of holding the forum in the city of Shenzhen, which is rightfully considered the innovation capital of China.

“Today, comprehensive and mutually beneficial relations between our countries are developing dynamically, primarily thanks to economic cooperation,” the President emphasized.

The fruitful negotiations with President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, held the day before, were noted with deep satisfaction. Among the results are agreements to support and create favorable conditions for business representatives of the two countries.

This will also be facilitated by the adopted historical document - the Joint Statement of the leaders of the two countries, which brings Uzbek-Chinese relations to the level of an “all-weather” comprehensive strategic partnership.

The President of Uzbekistan drew special attention to the dynamic growth rates and scale of trade, economic and investment interaction between the two countries.

Thus, in recent years, the volume of mutual trade has doubled and in 2023 reached a record high of US$14 billion. The head of state once again noted the availability of opportunities to increase this figure to 20 billion in the coming years, including by expanding mutual supplies of agricultural and industrial products, as well as concluding a new intergovernmental agreement on the establishment of preferential trade in certain types of products.

Today, total Chinese investment is over US$14 billion. The number of enterprises with Chinese capital has tripled.

The head of Uzbekistan highly appreciated the first interregional forum and exhibition of industrial products held in Urumqi the day before, where important investment agreements were signed.

The readiness to give this business platform a systematic character and to hold the next forum in Uzbekistan was emphasized. The leader of our country also welcomed plans to create a permanent Council of Regions of the two countries.

It is known that structural reforms are being carried out in New Uzbekistan to liberalize the economy and introduce market mechanisms.

A Fund to support projects for the production of high-tech industrial products has been created. Already this month, “industrial mortgage” is being launched, when land and production areas are transferred to investors in the form of a “ready-made business”.

It was noted that much attention is paid to accelerating the processes of privatization of large banks, industrial and infrastructure facilities, and the introduction of public-private partnership mechanisms.

Stressing the importance of mobilizing joint efforts to promote new projects and initiatives, the head of our state outlined further priorities and promising areas of interaction.

Among them is the expansion of partnerships with Chinese companies with the introduction of a simplified procedure for attracting funds from Chinese financial institutions for infrastructure development projects, industrial cooperation in priority sectors of the economy, including deep processing of strategic raw materials.

In addition, the attraction of advanced Chinese technologies in the field of sustainable agriculture and the introduction of scientific approaches to land rehabilitation and the cultivation of salt-tolerant plants are highlighted.

Important directions are the further promotion of strategic partnerships in “green” energy and the participation of Chinese companies in the privatization program.

In this regard, the agreements reached with Chinese partners to expand the investment portfolio of projects and programs for infrastructure development and industrial cooperation were noted with satisfaction.

It was also emphasized that a powerful impetus to the successful activities of Chinese partners in Uzbekistan will be given by the decisions made during the current visit to expand project financing by leading Chinese banks, open a representative office of the Export-Import Bank and create a new Investment platform with the Silk Road Fund.

- Another innovation. Each Chinese partner will be assigned a responsible investment manager. We firmly believe that they will provide Chinese companies with new opportunities for the successful implementation of projects,” the President said.

Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangdong Province Huang Kunming also addressed the business forum participants with a welcoming speech.

He expressed full support for the course of irreversible reforms pursued by the President of our country and, noting the great opportunities opening up in Uzbekistan, called on Chinese business to participate even more actively in the implementation of mutually beneficial projects in our country.

As a result of the business forum, a substantial package of documents was signed on the implementation of projects in the fields of energy, oil and gas, mining, electrical engineering, light industry, mechanical engineering, infrastructure development, agriculture, education, transport and logistics.

A “road map” will be developed with responsible managers assigned to each project.

In conclusion, the President of Uzbekistan took the initiative to organize the Guangdong Investment Forum on an annual basis, proposing to hold its next meeting next year in the city of Samarkand.