Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 9 March 2021, an Uzbek-German round table was held in the format of a video conference, organized by the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade with the support of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy.

The event gathered on its platform more than 100 managers and representatives of leading German companies, including MAN Truck & BUS, Deutsche Lufthansa, Siemens, John Deere, Roland Berger, Knauf and other large industrial manufacturers, commercial banks and business organizations. The German side was headed by Klaus Mangold, member of the board of the Eastern Committee of German Economy.

From the Uzbek side, the event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov, who addressed the participants with a welcoming speech during the opening ceremony of the round table, as well as heads of ministries, departments, industry associations, commercial banks and bodies local authorities of a number of regions of the Republic.

During the event, the current state of Uzbek-German investment cooperation, as well as new directions for deepening mutually beneficial partnership in promising sectors of the economy, such as the production of building materials, textile, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, were discussed.

There was a growing interest of German business in the Uzbek market, reflected in a 25 percent increase in German investment in the economy of the Republic observed in 2020 compared to 2019. It was announced that this year, 24 large projects with a total value of about $ 1 billion in the automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical and electrical industries, as well as in the production of building materials, are planned for implementation together with German investors this year.

The Uzbek side emphasized that the Republic will continue the processes of economic liberalization aimed at sustainable development, creating the most favorable conditions for doing business, integrating the principles of a free market and reducing state participation in priority sectors, as well as expressed readiness for close cooperation in order to activate the Uzbek -German economic cooperation and saturation of the agenda of mutually beneficial partnership with new large-scale projects and initiatives.

In this context, the heads of industry departments and associations made presentations of promising project proposals for further joint study and discussion with potential partners.

In addition, representatives of German companies had the opportunity to voice existing issues related to the implementation of projects in Uzbekistan, which were considered with the participation of heads of relevant ministries and departments from the Uzbek side. An open dialogue made it possible to objectively study the issues raised and develop effective and mutually acceptable solutions for each case considered.

As a result of the event, an agreement was reached on the development of a stable mechanism for close interaction with German entrepreneurs implementing investment projects or showing interest in the Uzbek market, which implies targeted work with each investor and entrepreneur, with the involvement of responsible ministries and departments under the coordination of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade.