Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Kazakhstan plans to conclude a number of agreements with Uzbekistan to increase mutual trade to US$10 billion, as well as develop logistics. These issues were discussed in detail during the working trip of the Minister of Trade and Integration - Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Uzbekistan Bakhyt Sultanov to Tashkent, the press service of the Ministry of Trade said.

Key issues of bilateral trade and economic relations were the topic of discussion at a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, as well as with the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Kazakhstan Sardor Umurzakov, Minister of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan Ilkhom Makhkamov and Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan Jamshid Khodjaev.

The participants identified the increase in the volume of mutual trade up to US$10 billion as one of the top-priority tasks for joint work.

The parties discussed the progress of the project of the International Center for Trade and Economic Cooperation "Central Asia" (ICTEC).

“We consider this center as a single ecosystem of trade and industrial hubs on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and a key traffic hub in the Central Asian region,” Bakhyt Sultanov noted.

In addition, an agreement was reached on the industrial orientation of this Center, which will allow the development of industrial cooperation between the two countries.

The prime ministers of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan launched the construction of the Central Asia MCTPP with an area of 400 hectares

The parties noted the need to reach final agreements, which will be recorded in the relevant documents during the visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Nur-Sultan.

In order to achieve the maximum economic effect of ICTEC and in order to integrate with the transport corridors North-South, Western Europe - Western China, the Kazakh side proposed to ensure the conjugation of ICTPP with the CTT "Alatau" and ICBC "Khorgos" on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the ICT "Termez" in the Uzbek - the Afghan border and planned similar border centers on the borders of Uzbekistan with Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.

During the meetings of the Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan - the Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Uzbekistan, it was also stated that the implementation of the ICTEC project is especially relevant within the framework of promoting the initiative to create a Eurasian commodity distribution network for the joint delivery of Kazakh and Uzbek goods to large markets of third countries, as well as saturation own markets during the off-season.

During the meetings, the issue of construction of additional 3 ORCs on the territory of Uzbekistan at the expense of investors from Kazakhstan was discussed, as well as the possibility of creating an ORC by Uzbek business in the northern regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Another agreement reached was the decision to work together to form Agroexpress. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan plan to coordinate their actions to achieve the maximum mutually beneficial effect. The parties also expressed interest in signing contracts for the supply of early crops to stabilize domestic demand during the off-season.

During the meetings, the parties also discussed work to eliminate barriers in mutual trade. Bakhyt Sultanov drew attention to the need to unify the Rules for determining the country of origin of goods in the CIS, which will positively affect the increase in mutual trade between the two countries and will make it possible to reach the US$10 billion mark even faster.

Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in the transport sector, including the field of railway transport, was also discussed. Kazakhstan welcomes the entry of RU into the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route as associate members.

Within the framework of the upcoming visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the parties discussed the possibility of holding a forum of interregional cooperation and a business forum.

As previously reported, the state visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the Republic of Kazakhstan is expected by the end of 2021.