A meeting of the research centers of the Organization of Turkic States was held

On October 14-15, Tashkent hosts the first meeting of official centers for foreign policy studies of the Turkic states, which is attended by over 60 representatives of leading analytical centers of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Hungary, the Turkic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as the UTC Secretariat.

On the agenda is the discussion of the prospects for cooperation between the Turkic countries in the trade and economic sphere, the development of transport and communication interconnectedness, the intensification of partnerships in the field of introducing innovative technologies and digital solutions in the energy sector, industry, agriculture, and trade.

In his speech, Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Badriddin Abidov noted the trend towards strengthening trade and investment cooperation within the Organization. Thus, over the past three years, trade between the UTC countries has grown by almost 1.5 times and reached $9.4 billion by the end of 2021. As of September 1 of this year, the number of enterprises operating in Uzbekistan with the participation of the capital of the member states doubled and exceeded 4,000 units.

Emphasizing the presence of untapped potential in this area, the attention of participants was drawn to the favorable opportunities created in Uzbekistan for business development, including an improved regulatory framework, a reduced tax burden, a visa-free regime for 90 countries of the world and much more, as a result of which the country rose from 166 to 69 place in the “Doing business” rating, and the EBRD raised its GDP growth forecast for Uzbekistan by 4 percent in 2022 and by 5 percent in 2023.

A number of constructive proposals were put forward to actively stimulate mutual trade, create a research center for trade cooperation between the Turkic countries, develop production potential based on competitive advantages and complementarity of the economies of the countries of the Organization.

Particular attention was paid to the issue of harmonization and digitalization of economic sectors, the development of e-commerce, the creation of “Engineering and Technology Centers”, the development of a joint “Roadmap” for “green” development, including the construction of wind farms, the development of alternative energy sources, the digitalization of energy and scientific research. .

At the conference, ideas were also voiced to create an environmental structure of the Turkic states in cooperation with the UN to mitigate the consequences of the tragedy of the Aral Sea with a residence on the coast of the island most affected by the environmental disaster.

The question and answer session that took place once again underlined the high interest of the participants in continuing joint work to develop cooperation, combine existing opportunities, and bring political, trade and economic relations between our countries to a new level.