President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov on Saturday received Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev, who arrived in Ashgabat to participate in the 19th meeting of the Joint Turkmen-Uzbek Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation, the official media of Turkmenistan reported on Saturday.
At the beginning of the meeting, Jamshid Khodjaev conveyed greetings and best wishes from President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. President of Turkmenistan extended his best wishes to the Uzbek leader and wished the Uzbek delegation productive work at the 19th meeting of the Joint Commission.
During the talks, it was noted that Turkmenistan attaches special importance to further strengthening and expanding friendly and good-neighborly relations with Uzbekistan, based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and trust.
Serdar Berdimuhamedov highlighted the steady development of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, identifying energy, transport, agriculture and trade as promising areas of partnership, as well as the joint implementation of major infrastructure and investment projects.
The sides also emphasized the important role of the Intergovernmental Commission in coordinating joint efforts across all areas of cooperation and in preparing measures to achieve the goals set. It was underlined that the opening of the Turkmen-Uzbek Border Trade Zone in November last year gave additional impetus to the growth of bilateral trade turnover.
Particular attention was paid to cultural and humanitarian cooperation. Holding cultural events in both countries and regular meetings between representatives of culture and the arts would contribute to the further development of cooperation in this field.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Jamshid Khodjaev reaffirmed the commitment of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to further strengthening and expanding their strategic partnership in the interests of the two states and their fraternal peoples.
