On November 22 this year, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan S. Umurzakov held an expanded meeting with a delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, headed by Minister of Trade and Integration B. Sultanov. The meeting was attended by heads of key ministries and agencies of the two countries.

The meeting was devoted to discussing the current state and prospects for expanding Uzbek-Kazakh economic cooperation. The dialogue touched upon a wide range of issues related to investment cooperation, trade, industrial cooperation and interaction in transport and logistics.

The relevance of intensifying work to increase the number of joint industrial cooperation projects was noted. The parties discussed a number of projects in the agro-industrial complex, mechanical engineering, textile, food, metallurgical and pharmaceutical industries, which are currently under consideration, and agreed to explore the existing potential and untapped reserves in various industries in order to develop new project proposals.

The emphasis was placed on the intensification of interregional cooperation. It was agreed that mutual visits of delegations composed of heads of ministries, agencies, industry associations and regional administrations of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan will be organized in the near future in order to work out new investment agreements and trade contracts.

The issues of organizing an Interregional Cooperation Forum between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in November, as well as an extended session of the Uzbek-Kazakh business council and a business forum with the participation of representatives of business communities of the two countries by the end of this year were discussed.

Special attention was paid to the development of bilateral trade. Having considered a number of issues in this area, the parties agreed to organize regular meetings of joint Working Groups on development of trade and economic cooperation this month, which will enhance the interaction of the relevant ministries and agencies of the two countries.

Also, during the meeting, the parties touched upon a number of issues related to the implementation of joint infrastructure projects in the transport sector and priority tasks on simplifying customs procedures and increasing the transit potential of the two countries.

Following the meeting, further steps for practical cooperation in the discussed areas of cooperation were defined.