Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent on Wednesday hosted the 16th meeting of the Uzbek-Turkmen Intergovernmental Commission on Trade-Economic, Scientific-Technical and Cultural-Humanitarian Cooperation. The commission members expressed their readiness to implement measures on increasing Uzbek-Turkmen trade turnover to $1 billion in the near future, the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan said in its press release.
The meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Esenmyrat Orazgeldiyev.
The meeting participants noted positive trends in bilateral trade-economic cooperation. Presently, 160 companies with Turkmen capital operate in Uzbekistan, and the trade turnover between the countries in the first half of this year increased by 20% compared to the same period last year.
The parties outlined further joint actions to promote mutual trade, expressing their readiness to implement practical measures to ensure stable supplies of Uzbek and Turkmen products to the markets of the two countries and to increase the bilateral trade to $1 billion in the near future. Deputy ministers of the foreign trade departments of the two countries will oversee the implementation of these proposals, according to the statement.
The approval process of the draft agreement on the establishment and regulation of the Uzbek-Turkmen zone of border trade will also finish in the near future.
The meeting participants paid special attention to increasing transport connectivity between the two countries. The sides particularly agreed to develop and take joint measures for the further development of transport corridors, providing for the phased resumption of flights, the provision of mutual tariff preferences for 2022, the prospects for utilizing the infrastructure of the Turkmenbashi seaport and other initiatives.
The Uzbek-Turkmen intergovernmental commission also agreed to intensify the development of new joint projects to create productions in various industries.
Upon the outcomes of the meeting, the sides signed its protocol, reflecting the agreements reached during the event, as well as key areas for further deepening the multifaceted partnership between the two states.
