Ways to strengthen cooperation with the European Union were discussed

According to the press service of the MIIT, on January 30 this year, Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov met with the Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Uzbekistan Charlotte Adrian. On the agenda are issues of strengthening cooperation in the trade, economic and investment spheres, interaction within the framework of Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO and others of mutual interest.

During the talks, the dynamics of the growth of mutual trade was emphasized, the volume of which increased by 15.7% in 2022, reaching $4.4 billion. The top five EU countries in terms of trade with Uzbekistan include Germany, Lithuania, Italy, Poland and France. Growth trends are associated, among other things, with Uzbekistan obtaining the status of a beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences GSP +, thanks to which it was possible to increase and diversify our country’s exports to the EU market over the previous year by almost 50%.

The European side expressed gratitude for the technical and advisory support provided in the process of our country’s accession to the World Trade Organization, in particular, through the implementation of the project “Assistance to the process of Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO” funded by the European Union.

In a separate order, the possibilities of expanding key areas of bilateral financial and technical cooperation were considered. In particular, the implementation of the new EU Multi-Year Indicative Program for Uzbekistan for 2021-2024 was reviewed, under which 76 million euros were allocated. The compliance of the program with the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan was emphasized, including the transformation to a “green” economy, effective public administration, support for agriculture and other areas.

Following the meeting, the parties confirmed their commitment to further expanding cooperation in priority areas and bringing multifaceted bilateral relations to a qualitatively new level of development.