Uzbek-Russian business forum was held in Samarkand

On December 1 of this year, an Uzbek-Russian business forum was held in Samarkand, which was attended by heads of ministries and departments, regions, industry associations and associations, as well as over 500 representatives of leading companies and corporations of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation.

The Uzbek delegation at the event was headed by Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Jamshid Khodjaev, and the Russian delegation – by the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov.

In their speeches, the heads of delegations emphasized the high level of multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, as well as the consistent increase in the number of joint investment projects and the establishment of long-term trade ties.

The positive dynamics of the growth of trade between Uzbekistan and Russia was emphasized. Over the past five years, trade between the countries has grown by 170%, and by the end of 2021, by another third, exceeding $7.5 billion. The interest of both sides in bringing the volume of mutual trade up to $10 billion was expressed.

The parties highly appreciated the intensification of investment cooperation and industrial cooperation in recent years. The number of enterprises created in Uzbekistan with the participation of Russian capital has tripled over the past 5 years, exceeding 3,000 units. Today, about two hundred joint projects with Russian companies worth over $20 billion are being implemented in Uzbekistan in the fields of petrochemistry, energy, mining metallurgy, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, light industry, production of building materials, as well as fruit and vegetable processing.

At the same time, it was announced that the economic potential of the two countries forms the prerequisites for further building up cooperation in priority areas, including in the automotive industry, the chemical and textile industries, agriculture and pharmaceuticals, the production of building materials, etc.

The need to continue joint work on the development of interregional cooperation in order to develop new projects of industrial cooperation and trade agreements was noted. In the near future, the schedules of mutual visits to the regions for the upcoming 2023 will be approved, and a specific date for the next third Interregional Forum will be agreed.

The business forum has become an effective platform for expert dialogue. Here, the potential of a number of industries in Uzbekistan and Russia was widely disclosed, promising investment cases were presented. As part of the program of the event, several panel sessions were also held, which focused the attention of participants on such priority areas as the joint development of industrial clusters, the formation of chains of industrial cooperation, the implementation of large joint investment projects in the fuel and energy sector, industry and transport, increasing export volumes, establishing business contacts between small and medium-sized businesses in the agro-industrial complex, the introduction of IT technologies, the digitalization of trade and economic relations, the development of marketplaces.

Also at the forum, meetings were held between representatives of the business community of the two countries, during which the parties discussed the possibilities of implementing joint investment projects and concluding mutually beneficial trade agreements.

On the sidelines of the event, an exhibition “Made in Uzbekistan” was also organized, which demonstrated the industrial potential of our country in a whole range of industries and areas. The exposition aroused interest among representatives of Russian business, providing new ground for discussing promising areas for cooperation.

In general, the business forum allowed representatives of the business circles of the two countries to replenish their notebooks with new useful contacts, discuss in detail the technical and financial aspects of new mutually beneficial projects and initiatives, identify points of common interest in the long term, and in a constructive format revealed new facets of partnership between Uzbekistan and Russia .