Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 1 June, Tashkent hosted an international scientific and practical conference on the topic: "The role of the strategic partnership between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in ensuring the sustainable development of Central Asia."

The event was held on the eve of the official visit of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon to Uzbekistan and brought together a representative composition of participants, which included the heads of strategic research institutions under the President, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, leading political and economic centers, academies of sciences of the two countries.

During the conference, Akramjon Nematov, First Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, made a presentation at the session “Priority areas of the Uzbek-Tajik strategic partnership in sustainable regional development”.

The representative of the ISMI emphasized that the conference, organized on the eve of an important political event, the visit of the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon to Uzbekistan, will contribute to the practical filling of the agenda of the upcoming high-level negotiations, finding new points of growth and drivers for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between our states.

According to the expert, today it is necessary to look for acceptable and adequate responses to the challenges that our countries face due to the negative impact on the region of geopolitical tensions, the decline in global trade, the difficulties associated with the functioning of transport communications and the restriction of access to markets.

At the same time, only by joining forces, using the huge potential and resources of our countries, maintaining a close trusting dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation in the region, we will be able to overcome the challenges of our time and reach new frontiers of joint sustainable development and prosperity.

A. Nematov stressed that there are all the necessary prerequisites for this. Thanks to the political will and joint efforts of the leaders of our countries over the past five years, we have managed to radically increase mutual trust, achieve a "breakthrough" in all areas, and bring our relations to the level of a comprehensive and multifaceted strategic partnership.

The expert noted that today the Uzbek-Tajik cooperation is constructive and systemic in the field of regional cooperation, making a significant contribution to the resolution of the regional agenda.

Largely thanks to our joint efforts, an absolutely new political atmosphere of good neighborliness, mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation is firmly established in Central Asia today, cooperation ties and transport and communication interconnectedness are being strengthened, the region is transforming into a developed capacious market, and its investment attractiveness is growing.

As a result, from 2016 to 2021, the total foreign trade turnover of the countries of the region grew by 54%, reaching US$167 billion, intra-regional trade - 3 times (from US$5.5 to US$16.5 billion), the number of joint ventures increased five times , the share of investments in Central Asia in the total volume in the world increased from 1.6% to 2.5%, amounting to US$34.3 billion in 2021, while mutual investments increased 3.2 times. As a result, in 2021, the region-wide GDP grew by 19.6% (US$328.7 billion).

At the same time, the inextricable link between the sustainable development of the region and our countries is clearly observed, which can be seen in the high growth rates of the economies of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which totaled more than 8% in 2021 in total.

Speaking about the positive impact on the region of expanding cooperation between Tashkent and Dushanbe, the expert emphasized that our countries are not only beneficiaries of regional development, but are also drivers of regional cooperation. So, in 2021, the share of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in regional trade was about 50%, exceeding 8.1 billion dollars, in the regional context, mutual investments reached 38%, number of joint ventures – 42%.

The implementation of new forms of economic cooperation, in particular the launch of the Uzbek-Tajik investment company, the border industrial and trade zone, the expansion of industrial cooperation, the holding of interregional business forums become a catalyst for the growth of the economies of our countries, create precedents and lay a solid foundation for sustainable development and stability in our region, - concluded A. Nematov.

The event was organized by the International Institute of Central Asia and the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan.