On January 30 this year, Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov held a meeting with Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Uzbekistan Charlotte Adriaen. The meeting’s agenda covered topics on strengthening cooperation in trade, economic and investment cooperation, partnership within the framework of Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO and other areas of mutual interest.

During the meeting, the growth dynamics of mutual trade were emphasized, noting that the volume of trade has increased by 15.7% in 2022, reaching $4.4 billion. The top five trade partners of Uzbekistan from among the EU countries during this period have been Germany, Lithuania, Italy, Poland and France. The growth trends are due, among other things, to Uzbekistan's beneficiary status of the Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+), which is enabling to increase and diversify our country's exports to the EU market by almost 50% over the previous year.

Gratitude was extended to the European side for the technical and consultancy support provided during our country's accession to the World Trade Organisation, in particular, through the implementation of a project for assistance in the process of Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO, funded by the European Union.

In a separate order, the possibilities of expanding the key areas of bilateral financial and technical cooperation were considered. In particular, the implementation status of the new Multi-Annual Indicative Programme 2021-2024 for Uzbekistan, under which 76 million euros were allocated, was reviewed. The compliance of the programme with the Development Strategy of the New Uzbekistan, including transformation to a "green" economy, effective public administration, support for agriculture and other areas, was emphasized.

Following the meeting, the parties confirmed mutual commitment to further expansion of cooperation in priority areas and elevation of multifaceted bilateral relations to a qualitatively new level of development.