Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Promoting mutual trade in woodworking and agricultural products, developing import substitution and holding joint business events are designated as priority areas for cooperation between the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) and the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Republic of Belarus. An agreement on organizing close cooperation on these issues was reached on 12 January during the visit of Uzbek diplomats to the central office of BUCE.

According to Rakhmatulla Nazarov, Chargé d’Affaires of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Republic of Belarus, the economies of our countries do not compete with each other, but are complementary, which creates fertile ground for mutually beneficial cooperation, including in the field of electronic exchange trading.

“As you know, Belarusian meat and dairy products and lumber are in high demand in Uzbekistan, while Belarus is actively buying Uzbek dried fruits and cotton products. It is gratifying that most of these goods are already presented at exchange auctions. Therefore, our common task for the current year is not only to increase the volume of exchange trade between our countries and to expand the circle of participants as much as possible, but also to arrange mutual deliveries of other commodity items in demand. It is possible that they will become new points of growth and will make it possible to achieve the target of bilateral trade of US$1 billion,” the Uzbek diplomat stressed.

The need to strengthen business contacts between Belarusian and Uzbek businesses through exchange trading was also pointed out by Kamoliddin Khasanov, Advisor on Trade and Economic Issues of the Embassy of Uzbekistan. To this end, he proposed to present the activities and tools of BUCE at the next meeting of the Business Council of Belarus and Uzbekistan, as well as within the framework of the forum of regions, which is scheduled for this year.

“The degree of awareness of representatives of the business community about the opportunities and tools available on the exchange plays a crucial role in the development of the Belarusian-Uzbek exchange trade, and such large-scale events as forums of the regions provide access to the widest possible audience, allowing them to convey information about the advantages of the exchange mechanism directly to participants market - to producers and consumers of goods," Kamoliddin Khasanov is sure.

The proposals of the Uzbek side were fully supported by the Chairman of the Board of BUCE Alexander Osmolovsky, who, in turn, drew attention to the significant potential for cooperation in the field of import substitution. According to the head of BUCE, the platform for trading industrial and consumer goods created by the exchange will simplify the work of Uzbek companies in the Belarusian market, and will also help to find counterparties in other countries.

“Today, over 24,000 Belarusian business entities are accredited on our digital platform, including about 95% of all state-owned enterprises. This means that Uzbek companies can, bypassing intermediaries, buy the widest range of Belarusian goods from their manufacturers, or vice versa, supply Belarus with their own products, using the exchange platform as an element of the commodity distribution network. At the same time, the exchange will control the proper fulfillment of obligations for each transaction. This also applies to transit transactions, when both the seller and the buyer are non-residents of the Republic of Belarus. Thus, the exchange platform can be used by Uzbek exporters as a safe channel for the sale of goods to third countries,” Alexander Osmolovsky believes.