By Trend

Azerbaijan is a strategic partner of Uzbekistan, very important in the economic sphere and not only. Therefore, cooperation with Azerbaijan is very important for us, Deputy Prime Minister for Investments and Foreign Economic Relations - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov said on Wednesday, answering a question from Trend correspondent, at a press conference on the eve of the first Tashkent International Investment Forum.

"The tendency of mutual trade between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan is positive. Even despite the pandemic, our trade volumes are growing. Everything is balanced, developing at a steady pace. We have a huge number of areas where we could implement various projects, unleash the potential that has not yet been tapped. I would like to note how we interact, in particular, in industrial cooperation. In Azerbaijan, entrepreneurs and companies from Uzbekistan are implementing a number of successful and landmark projects in the field of electrical and automotive products. In Uzbekistan, a number of investors from Azerbaijan are active in a number of industries - agriculture, construction, production of building materials, jewelry industry. We are very determined and see huge potential, including investment in tourism. I myself headed the working group when we traveled to Azerbaijan in 2019, where we worked out a number of promising projects, with specific areas, and now the time has come for implementation. The issue of holding an intergovernmental commission between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan is currently being discussed. Business communities will more actively use the potential that we have in our relations in the field of economy, trade and business," noted Sardor Umarzakov.

From March 24 to March 26, 2022, the first Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF) will be held in Tashkent.

This event is expected to be attended by heads and representatives of official structures, large investment, financial and economic organizations and companies of foreign countries, including from Azerbaijan, interested in integrating into the dynamically developing market of Uzbekistan.

TIIF is a new platform for the Central Asian region, in the format of which the investment potential of Uzbekistan will be presented to the international investment and business community.

During the Forum, the conditions created in the country for the development of business, transport infrastructure, "green" energy, the financial market, as well as the benefits and preferences provided to attract investment in tourism, production of building materials, textile and leather products, agriculture, etc. will be discussed.

It is planned to organize an excursion of the Forum participants to the leading industrial enterprises created in the indicated free economic zones of the country.

Within the framework of TIIF, the participants of the event will also visit the historical cities of Uzbekistan - Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.

Visiting the Forum will be interesting and useful for foreign partners intending to develop business in Uzbekistan and further in other countries of the Central Asian region.