Uzbekistan – Kyrgyzstan: industrial cooperation, investments, mutual trade
Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade S.Umurzakov discussed with Minister of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic D.Amangeldiev issues of deepening bilateral investment, trade, economic, transport and logistics cooperation in Istanbul.
The progress of the joint Roadmap’s implementation in the field of industrial cooperation development, which includes 60 projects worth over $550 million in such areas as animal husbandry, light, chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries, was discussed. The issues related to the implementation of the ongoing ones, as well as opportunities for working out new promising projects with the participation of entrepreneurs of the two countries, were considered.
There was a marked increase in the Uzbek-Kyrgyz trade turnover: over the past 4 years, the volume of mutual trade has grown more than 5 times, maintaining positive dynamics during the pandemic and the post-crisis period. The sides stressed the significant potential of the two countries' economies and discussed further joint measures to diversify trade turnover and elevate its volume to $2 billion in the near future. Promising industries in this regard are the light, food, electrical, metallurgical, petrochemical industries, as well as the production of construction materials.
Issues of cooperation in the transport and logistics areas were also touched upon: a number of projects related to the modernization and expansion of the transport infrastructure connecting the two states were discussed, as well as further steps to improve tariff and non-tariff conditions for multimodal supply chains, which will significantly contribute to increasing mutual cargo transportation.
The parties paid special attention to the consistent development of interregional cooperation: The results of bilateral business forums in Namangan and Jalalabad, held this year, were considered. The possibilities for holding a regular meeting of the Council of Heads of Border Regions of two countries in the first quarter of 2022 were discussed.
Following the meeting, additional agreements were reached on further cooperation in implementation of existing agreements in a high-quality and timely manner.