On March 1 this year, the International Hotel Tashkent hosted the Uzbek-Spanish business forum, organized by the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism of Spain.

The Forum was attended by Deputy Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan Oybek Khamraev, Deputy Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism of Spain Xiana Mendez, heads of ministries, departments and over 100 leading companies of both countries.

In their speeches, the speakers noted the effectiveness of the reforms carried out in Uzbekistan. Thanks to the measures taken, the investment climate is improving, the volume of foreign trade is increasing.

Thanks to the GSP+ beneficiary status, in 2022, the export of Uzbek products to the EU market increased by almost 50%, and to the Spanish markets by almost 2.5 times. At the same time, along with the significant potential for the development of bilateral trade, the need to provide additional support for the business circles of the two countries in order to expand the list and increase the volume of goods supplied was noted.

During the event, the Uzbek side took initiatives to enhance the use of the competitive advantages of the two countries to expand bilateral investment cooperation in priority sectors of the economy. The most promising areas are automotive industry and production of components, pharmaceutical, textile, and food industries, agriculture, development of public services and infrastructure. Moreover, both states are members of large regional associations with free trade regimes, which creates additional prerequisites for expanding trade ties between entrepreneurs of the two countries.

The commitment to use the available opportunities to increase the volume of bilateral trade by increasing the volume of mutual supplies of pharmaceuticals, textiles, non-ferrous metals, agricultural products, electrical equipment, opening of trading houses, holding joint business forums and "Made in Uzbekistan" and "Made in Spain" exhibitions was emphasized.

As a result of the forum, agreements were signed in the areas of water resources management and the construction of hydrotreating facilities in different regions of Uzbekistan, the introduction of new approaches and technologies for the development of sericulture and karakul breeding.

Within the framework of the business forum program, B2B negotiations were also held, during which entrepreneurs and investors had the opportunity to find points of intersection of interests, discuss new promising projects in the food sector, green energy and production of construction materials.

In the afternoon, the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Kingdom of Spain on trade and economic cooperation was held, which was attended by the heads of relevant ministries and departments of the two countries. Among the key agreements is the development of a roadmap for the implementation of further joint measures within the framework of expanding bilateral trade, removing trade barriers, organizing mutual exhibitions and fairs, and opening joint ventures to produce high-value-added goods.