Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - On 8 April, a videoconference was held with the leaders of 30 leading German companies and banks - ThyssenKrupp, Metro, MAN, Takraf, Klaas, Papenburg, Falk Porsche Teknik, Knauf, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Landesbank and others.

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov participated in the video conference; the German side was headed by K. Mangold, Chairman of the Board of Mangold Consulting.

During the negotiations, the German side was informed about measures being taken in the republic to mitigate the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the global economic crisis, targeted support of initiators of investment projects and exporters.

In turn, German entrepreneurs expressed an unflagging interest in continuing and developing their business in Uzbekistan in spite of adverse external factors caused by the spread of the virus. Financial cooperation with German banks, such as Commerzbank, Landesbank, is also actively conducted - the bulk of the funding goes to the implementation of private projects in the textile sector, agriculture and the building materials industry.

An agreement was reached on the mandatory development of previously planned for 2020 German direct investments in the economy of Uzbekistan in the amount of 1.1 billion euros.

During the discussion, representatives of German business and commercial banks were given clarifications on issues of interest, including visa extension procedures for foreign citizens who are in the republic and are unable to travel abroad, the mechanisms for providing subsidies for transportation costs for export, as well as applying tax breaks for enterprises in the current crisis conditions.

As a result of the event, an agreement was reached on developing a mechanism for close cooperation with German entrepreneurs implementing investment projects in Uzbekistan, which implies targeted work with each investor with the involvement of responsible government agencies coordinated by the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade.