Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 30 November 2021, the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISMI), together with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), with the support of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in London, organized an online meeting with the aim of establishing cooperation between experts from the two countries.

The event was also attended by representatives of the International Institute of Central Asia (MICA), the Institute for Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research (IPRM) and the Center for Economic Research and Reforms (CERR).

The agenda of the meeting covered issues of regional cooperation and security in Central Asia, the situation in Afghanistan, as well as the development of green energy, digitalization and the construction of smart cities.

In his welcoming speech, Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sanjar Valiev emphasized the importance and significance of the event, organized for the first time by the leading "think tanks" of the two countries.

According to the deputy director of the ISMI, this expert dialogue will contribute to the search for possible areas of cooperation and intensification of close partnership relations between Uzbekistan and Norway, both on a bilateral basis and within the framework of multilateral interaction in the UN, OSCE and EU.

Supporting this point of view, the senior researcher and head of the group for Russia, Asia and international trade of NIIA Christine Fiestad expressed her readiness to establish working contacts between research institutes of the two countries. At the same time, she highlighted the coincidence of many areas of research of the two institutes, which creates good prerequisites for continuing joint work on various topics of mutual interest.

The head of the department of the International Institute of Central Asia Timur Rakhimov pointed out the importance of studying the successful Norwegian experience in the development of regional organizations, in particular, the Nordic Council. In his opinion, the application of this practice will contribute to building up regional cooperation in Central Asia.

In this context, the head of the NIIA Center for Energy Research, Indra Everland, highly appreciated the regional good-neighborliness policy pursued under the leadership of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. It was especially emphasized that "the current foreign policy of Uzbekistan is constructive and meets the interests of the entire region." Moreover, according to the Norwegian expert, "thanks to the ongoing reforms, Uzbekistan led by the newly elected president can further expand its potential."

Touching upon urgent problems of regional security, the chief researcher of the ISMI Sharif Akhmedov drew the participants’ attention to the active role of Uzbekistan in providing direct assistance to neighboring Afghanistan. The expert stressed that Tashkent was one of the first to send humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, consisting of food, medicine and clothing.

In addition, the main UN logistics center began operating in Termez to provide assistance to Afghanistan. Uzbekistan has also begun reconstruction of the airport in Mazar-i-Sharif, where international humanitarian aid will be delivered. At the same time, Uzbekistan today covers 52% of Afghanistan’s electricity imports, thanks to which social facilities function there.

In turn, a senior researcher at NIIA Roman Vakulchik spoke positively about the active work of Tashkent in the direction of "green" development. As the representative of the Norwegian Institute noted, “Uzbekistan has begun to share more and more with the global climate agenda, has intensified its activities in the field of renewable energy sources”. According to the specialist, today "green" energy has a good potential for development in the Central Asian region, taking into account the climatic conditions of the region and the readiness of international partners such as ADB, EBRD, World Bank to invest in this area.

The head of the department of the Center for Economic Research and Reforms, Nozimjon Ortikov, pointed to the development of a "road map" by Uzbekistan to reduce hydrocarbon emissions, which will reflect practical measures for the development of a "green" economy.

At the end of the event, the participants highly appreciated the productivity of the dialogue, which confirmed the similarity of the approaches and positions of the two countries on important international and regional issues. The experts agreed to continue such meetings and establish permanent scientific contacts within the framework of research activities.