Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 10 June 2020, a videoconference was held between the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov and European Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan, during which the priorities of the interaction of Uzbekistan were discussed and the European Union in the fight against the spread of coronavirus, as well as a number of relevant areas of cooperation.

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of the European side, gratitude was expressed for the allocation of financial assistance in the amount of 36 million euros for the implementation of practical measures to reduce the impact of the pandemic on the socio-economic development of Uzbekistan.

Priority areas for further cooperation were identified - mitigation of the negative consequences of COVID-19 on the economy of Uzbekistan and poverty reduction, which is planned to direct a significant part of funding within the framework of the next EU budget period for 2021-2027.

An agreement was reached to intensify work on accelerating the approval of the draft Agreement on Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the European Union, for which they discussed the prospects for holding the next 6th round of negotiations in the near future on-line.

Particular attention was paid during the negotiations to the measures being implemented in preparation for the 4th meeting of the Working Group on Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO, as well as the process of obtaining Uzbekistan the status of the beneficiary country of the EU “GSP +” preference system.

Positive dynamics was noted in the sphere of financial and technical cooperation - the European side was expressly grateful for the allocation of the first tranche of 10 million euros as part of the project “Budget support for the agricultural sector and additional assistance to Uzbekistan”, the total cost of which is 40 million euros.

In addition, organizational issues related to the holding of a number of bilateral events scheduled for the current year by means of video conferencing were considered. Among them are the 17th meeting of the Uzbekistan-EU Cooperation Committee, the 15th meeting of the Uzbekistan-EU Subcommittee on Economics, Trade and Investments, and the 3rd meeting of the Uzbekistan-EU Subcommittee on Development Cooperation.