The 9th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was held

On November 4, Tashkent hosted the 9th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, alongside the Uzbek-Pakistani Business Forum, the press service of the Ministry of Investment, Industry, and Trade reports.

The event featured the participation of Laziz Kudratov, Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan, and Jam Kamal Khan, Federal Minister for Commerce of Pakistan, along with leaders from relevant ministries and over 100 executives from major industrial enterprises in both countries.

The agenda began with a bilateral meeting of delegation heads, where they discussed the current status and future prospects for enhancing cooperation in trade, investment, industrial collaboration, transport, and logistics, emphasizing the execution of agreements made during high-level visits.

Subsequently, the 9th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission commenced, featuring detailed reports and plans from the officials responsible for executing the existing Uzbek-Pakistani agreements.

Pakistan is a key trading partner for Uzbekistan. Over the past five years, mutual trade volume has tripled, and this year alone, it has increased by an additional 10%, surpassing $300 million. The number of joint ventures has also tripled during this period, reaching 128, while road freight transport has grown nearly 6.5 times, totaling 354,000 tons in 2023.

After thoroughly reviewing the implementation stages of joint investment projects and trade agreements, the parties identified specific measures to further enhance these indicators, including increasing the effectiveness of the Preferential Trade Agreement, organizing exhibitions of national products and opening trade houses of the two countries on a joint basis, as well as broadening access for entrepreneurs on the electronic trading platforms of both countries.

As part of their investment cooperation, a joint ‘‘Program for Industrial Cooperation 2025-2026’’ will be developed, alongside large-scale collaborative projects in agriculture, food processing, IT, chemicals, textiles, and machinery. The parties agreed on several initiatives to improve transport connectivity and facilitate the movement of goods between the two nations.

As a result of these discussions, the Final Protocol of the Commission meeting and a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in electronic commerce between Ministry of Investment, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan and Federal Ministry for Commerce of Pakistan were signed.