President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting with the representatives of Italian business circles

As the part of the business program of the official visit to the Italian Republic, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting in Milan with investors and representatives of large businesses in this country. This was reported by the press service of the head of our state.

The meeting with the Italian side was attended by the Governor of the Lombardy region Attilio Fontana, President of the Chamber of Commerce “Italy – Uzbekistan” Giorgio Veronesi, as well as more than 25 heads of leading companies and corporations, associations and financial institutions, such as Eni, Enel, Pietro Fiorentini, Saipem, Energy System, Imagro Group, HT Holding, Danieli, SACE, Ferroli Group, Arsenale Group, Pirelli and others.

– This is my first visit to your amazing country – one of the most ancient cradles of world civilization, the center of the richest cultural heritage and high technologies, a source of inspiration for many generations of artists and poets, – the President noted, opening the event. – It is symbolic that Milan was the place of our meeting – a modern economic pole, where an active business life is in full swing, innovations and technologies are born, new industries are developing.

It was noted with satisfaction that in recent years, economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and Italy has been developing dynamically. The number of joint ventures with the participation of Italian capital in our country has doubled. The volume of mutual trade is expanding at a steady pace. A number of joint projects in electrical engineering, metallurgy, as well as infrastructure development are being successfully implemented.

The head of state described the high-level talks held the day before with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister George Meloni as fruitful and constructive.

– In fact, we opened a new era in the history of relations between our countries, raising them to the level of strategic partnership. We agreed to expand trade and economic cooperation, create comfortable conditions for business, introduce flexible mechanisms for financing joint projects, and support your initiatives in every possible way. We also outlined guidelines for the development of industrial cooperation, Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized.

Representatives of Italian business can make a great contribution to the implementation of all the agreements reached. Moreover, the interest of Italian investors in Uzbekistan was confirmed by a joint business forum held on the eve of the visit, which was attended by about 300 representatives of the business circles of the two countries.

As a result, a number of new investment and trade agreements worth more than 9 billion euros were concluded. These are large-scale cooperation projects in the energy, gas chemistry and oil and gas industries, metallurgy, chemical, textile industries and agriculture.

During the meeting, noting the importance of a constructive and open dialogue based on the principles of trust and respect, especially against the backdrop of deep shocks in the global economy and disruption of global supply chains, the head of our state expressed Uzbekistan’s readiness to provide Italian businesses with broad support measures and an effective platform for their activities in our country.

The President dwelled separately on the reforms and transformations carried out in Uzbekistan. Thus, consistent work was noted on the introduction of free market mechanisms, ensuring healthy competition and the inviolability of private property, supporting entrepreneurship, introducing an effective public administration system and other positive changes that create the most comfortable conditions for doing business.

– Today we have created all the conditions for the development and prosperity of your business. Stability, reliable guarantees, and a favorable investment climate have been ensured. I invite each of you to visit our country and see for yourself that New Uzbekistan is a unique country with truly limitless opportunities,” said President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

It was emphasized that the synergy effect from combining the rich natural resources and qualified personnel of Uzbekistan with the technological and industrial potential of Italy will allow jointly producing value-added products and exporting them to the markets of third countries.

In this context, the most promising areas for joint work are energy, food and textile industries, agriculture, chemistry and automotive, electrical engineering and many other industries.

A detailed exchange of views took place on plans to expand the partnership. Representatives of Italian business circles highly appreciated the effectiveness of the reforms being carried out in our country, which create the basis for the development of cooperation with business representatives in the long term.

It was noted that Uzbekistan is a strategic partner for Italian companies, opening up opportunities for working with a promising region of Central Asia.

Italian businessmen and investors voiced specific proposals and plans for the implementation of joint mutually beneficial projects in Uzbekistan, including the introduction of high-tech and innovative solutions.

For example, they discussed the expansion of interregional cooperation programs with the Lombardy region, promising projects for the modernization of the gas distribution system in Uzbekistan and electrical distribution networks in the city of Tashkent, the technological re-equipment of the Tashkent thermal power plant, the construction of a number of plants, including the incineration of waste with the generation of electricity in Tashkent region, purification of potassium chlorine, production of potassium hydroxide, melamine, production of building materials, agricultural machinery, expansion of saffron plantations, increase in production capacity of Uzmetkombinat JSC, creation of the Center of Italian Technologies and Innovations together with the Turin Polytechnic University and others.

In addition, agreements were reached on training personnel in the industrial sector.

The leader of our country instructed to include each initiative announced during the meeting in a comprehensive road map. The heads of ministries and departments of Uzbekistan were instructed to provide all possible assistance to Italian partners in the implementation of current and new projects in our country.