Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan S. Umurzakov met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Republic of Uzbekistan Manish Prabhat at the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade.

The agenda for bilateral cooperation with a focus on interaction in the investment, trade and economic, and cultural and humanitarian spheres was reviewed.

The significant untapped potential in the economic partnership of the two countries and a number of priority areas to effectively increase mutually beneficial cooperation were noted.

In particular, the sides stressed the urgency of accelerating the work on the Preferential Trade Agreement and the Agreement on Promotion and Mutual Protection of Investments between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of India to sign them as soon as possible.

The Uzbek side welcomed the initiative to establish a joint Working Group on trade and economic issues. Proposals on the agenda and organization of the first meeting of the Working Group in the near future were considered.

The sides also discussed preparations for the 13th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of India in the 1st quarter of 2022, aiming to fill the upcoming event with practical content.

The sides agreed to intensify joint efforts to work out new promising investment projects and establish trade ties between entrepreneurs of the two countries and develop a comprehensive program of economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and India.

Separately, measures to intensify interregional cooperation, in particular, between Andijan region of Uzbekistan and Gujarat state of India were reviewed. In addition, opportunities for direct interaction between Ferghana region and Haryana state, the cities of Bukhara and Hyderabad, as well as Tashkent and New Delhi were considered, with a view to implementing joint projects and programs in investment, trade and cultural and humanitarian areas.

The dialogue also touched upon the sector of financial and technical cooperation: the sides welcomed the allocation of $448 million by India's Eximbank for funding the implementation of priority projects in Uzbekistan in infrastructure development and education, and agreed to work together on the practical implementation of these projects. It was also agreed that the work on new promising socially-oriented projects in IT, healthcare and education would be accelerated and grant financing would be attracted from the Indian side.

A mutual understanding of the need to continue active work to deepen cooperation in the transport and logistics sector, with a view to implementing joint projects in the field of transport infrastructure was reached.

As a result of the meeting, concrete tasks were set for the further promotion of all cooperation areas discussed during the dialogue.

Also, Memoranda (Memorandums) of Understanding were signed between the Embassy of the Republic of India in the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan on grant funding for the projects: "Establishment and equipping of new metrological laboratory at the Republican Scientific Specialized Allergology Center" and "Equipping secondary schools in Syrdarya region of Uzbekistan with computer equipment".