Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 28 July 2022, the 13th meeting of the Uzbek-Indian Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation was held in Delhi.

The meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev and Minister of Railways, Trade and Industry of the Republic of India Piyush Goyal.

During the dialogue, the current state and prospects for further strengthening bilateral cooperation in trade, economic, investment, transport and logistics, cultural and humanitarian spheres were discussed.

As part of the intensification of joint work to bring the trade turnover up to US$1 billion, an agreement was reached to accelerate the coordination of the draft Preferential Trade Agreement between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of India.

The mechanisms for expanding industrial cooperation and investment cooperation are considered. Currently, over 85 joint projects worth more than US$3 billion are being implemented in Uzbekistan together with Indian partners in the field of education, IT technologies, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, the production of building materials, textiles and others. In order to intensify investment cooperation, an agreement was reached to work out all the necessary issues for the signing of the Agreement on the Promotion and Mutual Protection of Investments in the near future.

During the meeting, the prospects for the development of transport interconnectedness were also discussed, as a key condition for the further expansion of trade and industrial cooperation. The parties agreed to use all existing opportunities to improve transport communications by jointly developing a network of dry ports and providing mutual discounts on fees and tariffs for transportation.

An agreement was also reached to hold a meeting of India-Central Asia Ministers of Transport in order to develop practical mechanisms for developing logistics infrastructure, a regional network of multimodal transport corridors, and increasing direct and transit cargo transportation as part of the North-South initiative.

The progress of the implementation of the Cultural Exchange Program between Uzbekistan and India for 2021-2025 was considered. At the moment, a number of practical events have already been implemented within the framework of this program: yoga festivals and Indian Cinema Days have been held in Uzbekistan, branches of the universities Amity, Sharda, Sambram have begun their work. Currently, the opening of branches of three more universities is being worked out: Glocal, LNCT, Integral. On the sidelines of the meeting, it was agreed that in the near future a joint Roadmap would be developed and adopted, providing for the opening of new joint general education, professional and higher educational institutions, expanding cooperation in research and technology, as well as the commercialization of innovative developments and start-ups.

As a result of the event, the protocol of the 13th meeting of the Uzbek-Indian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation was signed, which consolidated the decisions made during the event and the agreements reached.