President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov received Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan Akiro Amari at presidential residence Oqsaroy on 27 April.

President Karimov said at the meeting: "Uzbekistan highly values its relations with Japan, which have been stably developing." Japan is a reliable partner of Uzbekistan, Uzbek president underlined.

The Japanese official said the two countries had a great potential for expansion of economic cooperation.

The sides discussed development of relations between Uzbekistan and Japan.

Representatives of a number of Japanese corporations are accompanying the Economy, Trade and Industry Minister on his visit to Uzbekistan.

They are going to study the perspectives of expansion of cooperation in insurance, mining, oil and gas and small business, UzA reported.

More than 10 large projects are currently being implemented in Uzbekistan with Japanese investments.

Nine Uzbek-Japanese joint ventures operate in Uzbekistan in the sectors of light industry, trade, transport and tourism.

Representative offices of Japan International Cooperation Agency and 21 large corporations, which are members of JETRO, also function in Uzbekistan.

Humanitarian cooperation is also actively developing, especially in the science and education fields. More than 800 Uzbek specialists have been trained in Japan on JICA programme.