President of Uzbekistan Holds Talks with JICA Head on Expanding Strategic Cooperation

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — During his official visit to Tokyo, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with Akihiko Tanaka, President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The parties discussed practical aspects of further expanding cooperation and advancing joint projects, noting the high level of strategic partnership achieved in recent years. It was highlighted that the pace of fund utilization for ongoing projects has significantly increased, with the current portfolio exceeding US$8 billion, while new projects totaling more than US$3 billion are under development in sectors including healthcare, energy, transportation, education, industry, and other priority areas.

During the visit, new agreements were signed on the development of economic zones, education, agriculture, transportation, and the supply of medical equipment. The support provided by the Japanese side to the activities of the Uzbekistan-Japan Human Resource Development Center and the Youth Innovation Center was highly appreciated.

Special attention was given to expanding JICA’s involvement in the energy sector, supporting youth and women’s entrepreneurship, ensuring employment, combating poverty, training advanced engineering personnel, and scaling up the “One Village – One Product” project.

Both sides expressed readiness to promptly launch a special economic zone for Japanese investors and confirmed the importance of timely preparation and ensuring the sustainability of project outcomes under the New Cooperation Program with JICA through 2030.