Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 20 August, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the United States and Canada Javlon Vakhabov held online talks with Paul Irwin, Director of the Department of International Relations of the Ministry of Employment, Economic Development and Competitiveness of British Columbia (Canada).

During the conversation, the Ambassador spoke in detail about the content of the reforms being carried out in our country aimed at creating an attractive investment climate and a prosperous business environment. He also outlined promising areas of interaction between Uzbekistan and the province of British Columbia, in particular in free economic zones, in the implementation of modern technologies and innovations in the mining and agricultural industries.

Paul Irwin, in turn, stressed that the province’s economy is dominated by the resource extraction sector. He identified the mining sector as promising areas of cooperation. The Canadian side is well aware of the measures taken by the Government of Uzbekistan to support investments in exploration and mining, since Canada’s leading gold mining company B2Gold, headquartered in Vancouver (British Columbia), implements investment projects in Uzbekistan for the development of deposits gold in the Navoi region. In this context, Paul Irwin expressed his readiness to work out the issues of attracting another mining company of the province to Uzbekistan - Wenco International Mining Systems.

According to the Director of the Department, British Columbia is the third largest region in Canada, and is also considered the country’s leader in terms of production and export of agri-food products. In addition, the Canadian side noted that British Columbia also has developed transport and technological infrastructure. The province’s regional domestic product is the fourth-largest in Canada, at C $ 282 billion (US$213 billion) in 2019.

During the talks, the Canadian side expressed its readiness to explore ways to expand cooperation in the field of education. This area was named one of the promising areas of cultural and humanitarian relations, given the presence of mutual interest. In this context, the representative of British Columbia proposed to organize a videoconference between educational institutions of the province and Uzbekistan. According to him, he is ready to involve representatives of the universities of Capilano, Simon Fraser and British Columbia in this event.

Paul Irwin also stressed that healthcare can become one of the areas of bilateral cooperation. The measures taken by the British Columbia government to support the health sector showed that the province had fewer coronavirus infections than other regions of Canada, he said. In this regard, readiness was expressed to establish cooperation between the health authorities of the province and Uzbekistan.

In addition, during the conversation with the Canadian side, the issue of establishing twinning relations between the cities of Tashkent and Vancouver was also discussed. According to Paul Irwin, this initiative of the Embassy will help strengthen bilateral relations between British Columbia and Uzbekistan, as well as unite the focus on the development of tourism. Vancouver is the largest city in British Columbia and also one of the largest ports in North America. Paul Irwin stressed that Vancouver has won the title of “the best city in the world” three times according to the British edition of The Economist.

In general, according to the Embassy, the Canadian side expressed its readiness to assist in every possible way in organizing negotiations between the business circles of the province of British Columbia and representatives of the republic. Following the meeting, an agreement was reached on maintaining regular contacts on topical issues of the Uzbek-Canadian agenda.