Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 16 January 2020, in the format of a video conference, negotiations were held between the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov with the Minister of Investment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Khalid Al-Falih.

During the talks, the sides discussed the current state and prospects of bilateral cooperation in trade, economic, investment, energy, cultural and humanitarian spheres.

The Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia highly appreciated the socio-economic reforms and structural reforms carried out in Uzbekistan under the leadership of the head of state. “We are inspired by the bright results of deep structural transformations in Uzbekistan under the leadership of the pragmatic President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, which are unanimously recognized by the international community,” Khalid Al-Falih noted during the conversation.

The experience of work of Saudi companies in the energy sector of Uzbekistan was positively assessed - on 5 March, last year, an agreement was reached with the management of ACWA Power to build a thermal power plant in Syrdarya region of the Republic of Uzbekistan worth US$1.2 billion. “The project of the Acwa Power company is a successful example of our cooperation. At the same time, we should not be limited only to energy projects. We expect concrete results from the upcoming bilateral events, which could significantly raise the level of our partnership in various fields,” said Khalid Al-Falih. 

The Saudi side expressed interest in expanding investment cooperation and establishing business partnerships between entrepreneurs of the two countries. In this regard, it was agreed to organize the visit of the Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia to Uzbekistan at the head of the delegation of Saudi business circles by the end of this month.

Within the framework of the visit, a number of bilateral events are scheduled, including the Uzbek-Saudi Business Forum with presentations of existing opportunities for investment cooperation and specific projects for joint implementation, the first meeting of the Uzbek-Saudi Business Council with the involvement of the chambers of commerce and industry of the two countries, as well as meetings in the formats "G2G", "G2B" and "B2B" to reach specific agreements on the most promising and mutually beneficial investment projects. In addition, it is planned to hold a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site of a thermal power plant in Syrdarya region, the signing of an investment agreement with ACWA Pоwer for the construction of a wind farm in the Republic of Uzbekistan worth US$1.4 billion, as well as the opening of an energy college in Shirin.

During the negotiations, the parties reached an agreement on close cooperation between the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Investment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, aimed at ensuring favorable conditions for cooperation between entrepreneurs of the two countries.

Also, following the results of the video conference, the parties announced their readiness to study new promising areas of investment cooperation, such as agriculture, tourism, the transport sector and other industries, and came to an agreement on establishing systemic interaction to develop specific projects.