Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 22 June, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov discussed with the Vice-President of the Republic of Turkey Fuat Oktay the current state and current directions of further expansion of bilateral trade, economic and investment cooperation.

The parties noted with satisfaction the systematic nature of trusting relations in the field of attracting investments, increasing foreign trade, and cooperation in transport and social and humanitarian spheres.

The Turkish side was particularly grateful for the supply of 50 mechanical ventilation devices.

Much attention during the negotiations was paid to cooperation in the transport sector - it was noted that increasing the capacity of transport corridors plays an important role in the development of international trade and economic partnership between countries. In this context, the effective and targeted work of the Turkish government to prevent the appearance of traffic jams at border crossing points was emphasized. For goods from Uzbekistan arriving in Turkey through the territory of Kazakhstan, Russia and Georgia, free and fast movement on roads is crucial.

The volume of freight traffic between the two countries in 2019 amounted to 1.2 million tons, while the growth was 22% compared to the previous year. 85% of the total cargo flow falls on road transport.

The parties positively evaluated the sending of 8 block trains from Uzbekistan to Turkey since March this year via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. Moreover, promising mechanisms for intensifying the use of this direction were discussed by increasing the volume of mutual cargo transportation by organizing the joint launch of block trains along this route.

The Turkish side was informed of the signing in January of this year in Tashkent by the heads of the railway departments of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia of the Protocol on the establishment of tariff preferences for the transit of goods for the development of the logistics corridor from China to Turkey and further to Europe and vice versa. The Turkish side was invited to participate in this agreement.

The issues of accelerating the domestic procedures of the Republic of Turkey on the ratification of the “Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on international combined transportation of goods”, which will optimize the conditions for the transportation of bulky and heavy cargo, take the necessary measures to develop the necessary infrastructure to increase the volume of combined transportation .

Interest was expressed in the speedy signing of the Agreement on preferential trade, work on which is carried out on a systematic basis by relevant experts of both countries (the last, 5th round of negotiations was held on 13-14 May in video conference mode).

The parties also discussed the possibility of strengthening business ties between Uzbek and Turkish textile companies by attracting investors from Turkey interested in implementing projects in Uzbekistan.

Separately, the prospects for interaction in the field of institutional cooperation were touched upon, bearing in mind the creation of practical mechanisms for studying and integrating Turkish experience in improving the investment climate, attracting leading foreign investors, eliminating the shadow economy and fighting corruption.

Following the talks, an agreement was reached on further promotion of joint initiatives in the framework of the discussed areas of cooperation.