Uzbekistan, UAE make agreements worth $10 billion

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan held talks in an expanded format with participation of official delegations of the two states.

The head of Uzbekistan stressed that the United Arab Emirates for a short historical period of time - fifty years - created a “miracle” in the desert, becoming one of the world centers of economics, innovation, trade, finance and tourism, and noted the interest of Uzbekistan in cooperation and exchange of experience in these spheres.

Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan highly appreciated the ongoing reforms in Uzbekistan to liberalize the economy, improve the investment climate and strengthen the international prestige of the country.

Today in Uzbekistan there are 107 enterprises with participation of investments from the Emirates, 28 representative offices of firms and companies of our country are opened. They are mainly engaged in the production of textiles, building materials, canned fruit, printing, wholesale trade, rendering services. In 2018, trade turnover between the countries amounted to almost $400 million.

The head of our state noted that this figure has increased compared to previous years, however, taking into account the potential of the parties, it is not enough. In this regard, during negotiations, the issues of comprehensive expansion of bilateral cooperation, strengthening practical cooperation in the trade and economic, investment, innovation, banking, financial, cultural, humanitarian and other fields have been discussed.

Results of the third meeting of the Uzbek-Emirati intergovernmental commission on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation, held on March 12 this year in Tashkent, were positively assessed. The intergovernmental commission has been tasked to increase the volume of mutual trade to $1 billion in the coming years, increase the supply of goods, implement joint projects for processing raw materials and manufacturing value-added products.

Huge potential is available for cooperation in the field of tourism. Mausoleums of our great ancestors and the nature of Uzbekistan are of great tourist interest among the inhabitants of the Emirates. Last year, the number of tourists from the UAE who visited our country increased by 1.5 times.

After negotiations in an expanded format, a ceremony of exchange of signed bilateral documents took place.

A Joint Statement was adopted between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates. The parties exchanged signed documents on cooperation in the areas of investment, finance, alternative energy, industrial and infrastructural development, agriculture, and customs administration. It was reported that, in general, during the visit, agreements were reached totaling more than $10 billion.

Then a meeting was held between President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a narrow format. The parties agreed to expand trade-economic ties, implement joint projects in the fields of energy and infrastructure, strengthen cooperation in the field of science, technology and education.