Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 11-12 November 2019, the first meeting of the Joint Customs Council of the heads of customs services of Uzbekistan and Turkey was held in Tashkent.

In this regard, the delegation of the Republic of Turkey headed by the Deputy Minister of Trade - the head of the customs service of the Republic of Turkey Riza Tuna Turagay arrived in Uzbekistan.

Diplomatic relations between Uzbekistan and Turkey span over 27 years. In recent years, multifaceted cooperation and friendly relations between the two countries have risen to a new, more active level.

The state visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Turkey in the fall of 2017 and the visit of the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan to our country in the spring of 2018 is another striking confirmation of the great mutual interest and powerful potential of international cooperation.

The negotiations held during these visits, at which it was noted with satisfaction the desire of the parties to expand productive ties, serve as the basis for further expansion of active business cooperation in various fields.

It is important to note separately that in recent years, entrepreneurs of both countries have created more than 750 joint ventures, and the volume of bilateral trade has doubled. In particular, according to the results of the past 10 months of 2019, the volume of bilateral trade amounted to almost 1.97 billion US dollars. And this is 26.9% more than in the same period last year.

It is considered natural that the customs services of both countries seek to further strengthen effective cooperation and exchange of information under such conditions. This is the main goal of the Joint Customs Council established on April 30, 2018 between the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Customs and Trade of the Republic of Turkey.

On the first day of the visit, working meetings were held with experts from both countries discussing important issues on the agenda of the first Joint Customs Council.

The main event of the visit took place on 12 November 2019 - the first meeting of the Joint Customs Council of the heads of customs services of Uzbekistan and Turkey with the participation of the Chairman of the State Customs Committee Murotjon Azimov and the Deputy Minister of Trade - Head of the Customs Service of the Republic of Turkey Riza Tura Turagay.

At the first meeting of the Council, a number of issues were discussed that determined new areas of cooperation. First of all, special attention was paid to strengthening the contractual base of the customs services of both states.

In this regard, the Uzbek side came up with the initiative to conclude agreements between the customs services of both countries on the presentation and exchange of preliminary information on goods and vehicles, as well as on methodological and informational cooperation in the field of statistics.

It was also noted that it was necessary to begin the necessary procedures for the internal coordination of the draft international agreement between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on the creation of a simplified customs corridor.

At the meeting, it was also noted that cooperation is planned to exchange information necessary to determine and control the customs value of goods.

During the negotiations, issues were discussed of holding a meeting of the Working Group on Cooperation in the Field of Law Enforcement in the Customs Field, developing an Action Plan for 2020-2021, focusing on such areas as smuggling, drugs, human trafficking and other customs offenses.

Naturally, all this will contribute to the further growth of bilateral trade, as well as improving the efficiency of customs services.

The Turkish side welcomed the participation of Uzbekistan in the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking countries and called for participation in the Caravanserai project for the effective implementation of the One Belt and One Road Initiative.

Based on the foregoing, both parties agreed to develop a Roadmap for identifying cooperation priorities for 2020 in order to systematize their implementation.

Following the meeting, the heads of customs services of Uzbekistan and Turkey signed the protocol of the first Joint Customs Council.

During the visit, members of the delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Trade - Head of the Customs Service of the Republic of Turkey Riza Tuna Turagay familiarized themselves with the activities of the State Customs Committee, in particular with the activities of the Office of Customs Expertise and Maintaining the Commodity Nomenclature for Foreign Economic Affairs, the History of Customs Museum, and the Customs Institute of GTU RUz and the National Cynological Center.

The next meeting of the Council of Heads of Customs Services will be held in 2020 in the Republic of Turkey.