The trade turnover between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan last year exceeded $500 million, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan Akmaljon Kuchkarov said during a briefing on Monday at the Yyldyz hotel in Ashgabat.
At the briefing on the Message from the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Oliy Majlis, Kuchkarov noted the growth of Uzbekistan's GDP by 5.6% in 2019 and added that $4.2 billion of foreign direct investments was attracted to the country, which is 3.7 times more than in 2018.
Uzbekistan intends to increase the FDI to $23 billion in 2020.
The ambassador particularly underlined the tourism reforms in the country. Kuchkarov said that Uzbekistan has introduced a visa-free regime for citizens of 86 states and a simplified visa regime for citizens of 57 states. He added that due to the reforms, the number of tourists visiting the country reached 6.7 million, which is 3.3 times more than in 2016.
Kuchkarov noted that Uzbekistan attaches special importance to the further development of good neighborly relations with the countries of Central Asia, primarily with Turkmenistan.
Last year, Turkmenistan entered the top ten foreign trade partners of Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan started exporting electricity to Uzbekistan in December, and the discussions of the project to create an Uzbekistan–Turkmenistan–Iran–Oman transport corridor are currently underway.
