The First Uzbek-Azerbaijani Interregional Forum was held in Tashkent with the support of the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan, and the organizational assistance of the Export and Investment Promotion Agency – AZPROMO. Along with officials from both sides, entrepreneurs working in various fields took part in the event.
At the opening ceremony, Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov emphasized that the attention paid by the countries' leaders to the development of relations provides a strong incentive to expand our partnership in political, trade and economic, humanitarian, and other areas. This has helped us successfully implement joint projects in areas such as energy, automotive, transport, agriculture, and petrochemicals. Today's Forum will also be important for identifying new areas of our cooperation.
Minister of Investments, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov emphasized that the development of trade and economic cooperation between his country and Azerbaijan exhibits an upward trend. It was noted that the establishment of business relations and ties between the regions of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan would further strengthen our mutually beneficial partnership.
Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov drew attention to the high level of Azerbaijani-Uzbek relations, mutual official visits of the countries' presidents, negotiations, meetings, and events.
It was reported that last year's growth of more than 63 percent was observed in trade, representing one of the major areas of economic cooperation. It was stressed that there is a wide potential for an effective partnership between our countries in the areas of investment, automotive industry, production of agricultural and household appliances, metallurgy, organization of joint ventures in industrial areas of Azerbaijan, etc. The Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Investment Fund will play an important role in our economic cooperation, the implementation of new investment projects, and the creation of jobs.
The minister provided information on the economy of Azerbaijan, noting that in 2022, GDP grew by 4.6%, including over 9% growth of non-oil GDP.
During the Forum, information was also presented on the favorable business environment in our country, and the potential of our liberated territories, and also business circles were called for active cooperation. It was reported that by the initiative of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a 960-seat school is under construction in the Fuzuli district, which is another vivid manifestation of the close relations between our nations.
It was noted that there are great opportunities for the development of relations between the regions of our countries. The I Uzbek-Azerbaijani Interregional Forum is an important platform for joint initiatives.
The event included presentations on investment projects and B2B and B2G meetings.
During the forum, the parties signed the following several documents: An intergovernmental agreement on the establishment of the Uzbek-Azerbaijani Investment Fund, documents on twinning between the cities of Khiva and Shusha, Samarkand and Ganja, Bukhara and Lenkoran, Kokand and Sheki, a Road Map to expand practical cooperation between the Tashkent city executive authority and the Baku city executive authority in the trade and economic, Scientific and technical, cultural, and humanitarian areas for 2023-2025, Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between AZPROMO and the Agency for Regulation of Alcohol and Tobacco Market and Development of Wine Industry of Uzbekistan, Memorandum of Cooperation between the Small and Medium Business Development Agency under the Ministry of Economy and the Entrepreneurship Development Agency Under The Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction of The Republic Of Uzbekistan, Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation Agreement between CJSC AzerGold and the Ministry of Mining and Geology of Uzbekistan, Memorandum of Cooperation and Interaction between Mega Invest Industrial LLC and NABUCCO A&C LLC, Cooperation Agreement between Jahan Industrial Complex LLC and Azimut Plus LLC.
It should be noted that the 3rd meeting of the Uzbek-Azerbaijani Business Council was held during the Forum. The event considered the work done to accomplish the tasks identified during the previous meetings and focused on discussing the expansion of relations between the business entities of the two countries.
