Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 5 January, a meeting between the Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov and the Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Arman Shakkaliev was held in Tashkent.

During the meeting, issues of implementation of the “Road Map” for the implementation of investment agreements and trade contracts signed during the visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan K. Tokayev to Uzbekistan were discussed. Current projects and prospects for the development of trade and economic relations and industrial cooperation between the two countries are considered.

There has been an increase in mutual trade volumes. Over the past 6 years, trade turnover has increased almost 2.5 times, reaching more than US$4.6 billion in 2023 (compared to US$1.9 billion in 2016). At the same time, the parties expressed their readiness to take measures to increase trade volumes to US$10 billion in the coming years.

An agreement was reached to create a joint Working Group to remove barriers to bilateral trade. The parties also expressed their readiness to support the activities of the joint foreign trade company UzKazTrade, which includes an online trading platform for selling a variety of goods in the markets of both countries.

A constructive discussion was held on the development of industrial cooperation, taking into account the practical aspects of the functioning of the International Center for Industrial Cooperation “Central Asia”. An agreement was reached on joint measures to accelerate the creation and launch of the center.

Following the meeting, the parties confirmed their readiness to further develop bilateral relations and instructed responsible leaders to speed up the implementation of the agreements reached.

On the same day, the delegation of Kazakhstan visited the Tashkent Technopark, getting acquainted with the production and technological potential, which includes about 20 projects aimed at creating high-tech, competitive, export-oriented and import-substituting industries.