Uzbekistan-Russia: trade turnover increased by 170% in five years
Uzbek-Russian business forum was held on 1 December this year in Samarkand. The forum was attended by heads of ministries and agencies, regions, industry associations, as well as over 500 representatives of leading companies and corporations of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation.
The Uzbek delegation was headed by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Jamshid Khodjaev, and the Russian one - by Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov.
The sides underscored positive dynamics of growth in trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Russia. Over the past five years the trade turnover between the two countries has grown by 170%, and by the end of 2021 it will increase by another third to exceed $7.5 billion. The sides expressed interest in bringing the volume of mutual trade up to 10 billion dollars.
The parties have highly appreciated the intensification of investment cooperation and industrial cooperation in recent years. The number of enterprises set up in Uzbekistan with Russian capital has tripled in the last five years, exceeding 3 thousand units. Today, about two hundred joint projects worth over 20 billion dollars in petrochemicals, energy, mining metallurgy, health and pharmaceuticals, light industry, production of building materials, as well as processing of fruits and vegetables are implemented in Uzbekistan.
At the same time, it was noted that the economic potential of the two countries creates prerequisites for further increasing cooperation in priority areas, including in the automotive industry, chemical and textile industries, agriculture and pharmaceuticals, production of building materials, etc.
The need to continue joint work on the development of interregional cooperation in order to elaborate new projects of industrial cooperation and trade agreements was noted. In the nearest time schedules of mutual visits of regions for the coming year 2023 will be approved and the concrete date of the next third Interregional Forum will be agreed upon.
