Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has put forward the initiative to create a permanent platform for business dialogue—the “Central Asia – Italy” Business Club—under the auspices of the chambers of commerce and industry of the countries in the region.

Speaking at the “Central Asia – Italy” summit held in Astana, the head of state emphasized that over recent years, trade turnover and investment between Uzbekistan and Italy have nearly tripled. He noted that large-scale technological cooperation projects are currently being implemented with leading Italian companies.

“Given the traditionally strong position of the Italian business community in the field of innovation, we propose to establish a permanent platform for business dialogue—the ‘Central Asia – Italy’ Business Club—under the auspices of the chambers of commerce and industry of our countries,” Mirziyoyev stated. He added that such meetings, involving entrepreneurs, could be held annually in the capitals of the regional countries and Italy, opening new opportunities for the development of trade and investment cooperation.

The president also highlighted the importance of developing and adopting a comprehensive multilateral Program of Industrial and Technological Cooperation aimed at creating favorable conditions for technology transfer, the introduction of advanced knowledge and best practices, as well as the development of high-tech manufacturing.

According to him, priority areas of cooperation could include deep processing of mineral and agricultural raw materials; the production of modern equipment for the electrical engineering, chemical, textile, leather, food, and other processing industries; localization of component bases and industrial goods; as well as the creation of design centers involving leading Italian brands.

Mirziyoyev reported that work has already begun in the Tashkent region to establish a special industrial park managed by a European operator to implement regional projects.

“To support cooperative projects, we consider it necessary to involve the Italian state agencies SACE and SIMEST, as well as joint investment funds,” the head of state emphasized.

He also specifically noted the successful cooperation with Italy in the sphere of “green” transformation and expressed hope for the development of a large-scale partnership through the launch of a multilateral platform designed to assist in the implementation of national decarbonization programs.

Uzbekistan is ready to implement projects in the field of renewable energy with the participation of leading Italian manufacturers and engineering companies, including the supply of “green” energy to European Union countries, conducting audits and improving energy efficiency of enterprises, modernizing water infrastructure, and developing hydrogen technologies.