Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 9 September 2020, the first meeting of the Economic Forum of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was held in the format of a video conference. The event, organized at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, was attended by the heads of economic and trade departments of the Commonwealth countries. The Republic of Uzbekistan was represented by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov.

The agenda of the meeting included a wide range of issues of trade, economic, investment and industrial cooperation. The participants repeatedly noted the important role of the Commonwealth in strengthening multilateral partnerships and promoting joint initiatives, and expressed their readiness to consider the Forum as an effective platform for developing economic priorities for the CIS, which is especially important during the transformation of the global economy against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as resolving issues sustainable development and response to current challenges at the regional and global levels.

As part of the event, a constructive exchange of views took place on the mechanisms of cooperation to mitigate the negative consequences of the pandemic and stimulate economic activity in the Commonwealth countries.

In this vein, the perspectives of intercountry interaction on the development of joint anti-crisis programs aimed at the development of investment cooperation, mutual trade, as well as restoration of transport and communication ties were considered.

It was noted that the experience gained during the pandemic in transferring a significant part of business life, the work of the most important state and educational services to the online mode, revealed significant potential for the development of the field of information and communication technologies and the need for accelerated digitalization of the further functioning of the economy and society.

In this regard, it was proposed to develop and adopt a joint program of cooperation of the Commonwealth countries in the field of digital economy and e-commerce in the CIS space, which would radically improve the practical interaction between the participating countries in the fields of trade, finance and investment, transport, customs regulation, migration and food security.

Special attention was paid to the relevance of strengthening industrial cooperation in priority areas such as mechanical engineering, energy, electrical engineering, textile and pharmaceutical industries, and agriculture.

They also considered the prospects for building up cooperation in the transport and communication sphere and implementing joint projects of regional importance in this direction, which would allow more efficient use of the transit potential of the CIS space and would have a positive impact on the socio-economic development of the Commonwealth member states.

Along with this, the participants emphasized the importance of developing infrastructure and strengthening ties between the regions of the Commonwealth member states, in connection with which the initiative to create a CIS Infrastructure Development Fund was considered to finance mutually beneficial projects.

Also, in order to activate trade, economic, investment and industrial ties between the CIS countries, on the initiative of Uzbekistan, "Weeks of business initiatives" will be organized on a regular basis, which will allow the member states of the Commonwealth to approach the issues of economic cooperation in a multilateral format.

Following the meeting, the participants expressed their readiness to move on to practical cooperation within the discussed areas to ensure the progressive development of multifaceted trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation in the long term in the CIS space.