In a significant diplomatic move, the Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan, Laziz Kudratov, met with Kazakhstan's Minister of Trade and Integration, Arman Shakkaliev, on January 5. The talks resulted in key agreements aimed at enhancing bilateral trade and fostering cultural collaboration between the two nations.
The Uzbek Ministry of Investment, Industry, and Trade reported the following outcomes from the meeting:
- Both ministers agreed to establish a joint working group focused on removing barriers to bilateral trade.
- Commitment was expressed to support the activities of UzKazTrade, an online trading platform set to facilitate the sale of a diverse range of goods in both countries' markets.
- An accord was reached to jointly expedite the establishment of the Central Asia International Center of Culture and Culture, pushing for its swift operationalization.
The funding for the joint working group amounts to UZS 400mn ($32,542) and the shares are divided in half between the two entities.
Meanwhile, the Kazakh Ministry of Trade and Integration, in its official press release, highlighted discussions surrounding the upcoming IV Forum of Interregional Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Samarkand. During the negotiations, a protocol was signed to expand mutual cooperation. The Ministry emphasized the recent creation of the industrial zone within the Central Asia International Center for Industrial Culture along the Kazakh-Uzbek state border in December 2023, with ongoing efforts to develop the necessary infrastructure.
Notably, there has been an increase in mutual trade volumes. Thus, over the past 6 years, trade turnover has increased almost 2.5 times from $1.9bn in 2016 to more than $4.6bn in 2023. At the same time, emphasizing the existence of untapped opportunities, the parties agreed on a number of measures to increase trade volumes to $10bn in the coming years.
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