Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- As part of the program of the High-Level International Conference “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities” a panel discussion“ Trade and Transport Connectivity for Sustainable Growth in Central and South Asia” was held.

The event was moderated by Suma Chakrabarti, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, former President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov, Minister of Finance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Muhammad Payenda, Minister of Agriculture of Latvia Kaspars Gerhards, EU Special Representative for Central Asia Teri Hakala, Chairman of the Uzbek-Saudi Business Council Muhammad Abunayan, as well as representatives and experts of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, US Financial Corporation for International Development, European Investment Bank, World Trade Organization, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and other organizations.

During the discussion, the participants comprehensively discussed the factors of deepening trade, economic, transport and logistics ties between the countries of the region and exchanged ideas and proposals on priority areas for further interaction.

Speaking during the discussion, the Deputy Prime Minister-Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade raised a number of important issues related to the topic of the event and the conference as a whole.

The priorities of Uzbekistan in matters of further cooperation between the countries of Central and South Asia were outlined: strengthening relations by enhancing trade, industrial cooperation and involvement in sustainable development processes. 

It was announced that over the past four years, trade between Uzbekistan and its Central Asian trading partners has increased 2.5 times, and with the countries of South Asia - 2 times. At the same time, a low share of intraregional trade (from 1.5 to 8.5 percent) was noted in the trade turnover of Central Asian countries, while in Southeast Asia this figure is 25 percent.

This fact testifies to the untapped potential in trade relations in the region, which is caused by the imperfection of the regulatory framework, insufficiently developed transport infrastructure and the presence of tariff and non-tariff barriers.

In this regard, the Uzbek side called on the governments of the region’s countries and development partners for coordinated interaction between stakeholders.

In this context, the priority tasks were to establish direct contacts between manufacturers and entrepreneurs in order to increase the number of joint projects in various industries, improve the regulatory framework, eliminate existing tariff and non-tariff barriers, digitalize services and simplify customs procedures, reduce time and material costs. during logistic operations and other measures. 

It was announced that Uzbekistan is already successfully moving in these directions: an Agreement on Transit Trade with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been signed, active work is underway to agree on agreements on preferential trade with Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, regular air traffic has been resumed in the region, joint events to bring business communities of different countries closer together.

The importance of intercountry interaction to ensure the safety of trade and transport infrastructure, as the main factor of socio-economic development and raising the standard of living of the population, was emphasized. In this context, it was proposed to intensify cooperation on the exchange of experience gained in the protection of personnel and infrastructure facilities in the implementation of construction projects, equipping and modernizing rail and road communications.

Also, on the example of the ongoing project for the construction of the "Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar" railway, the most effective mechanisms for attracting investments and distributing costs in the implementation of infrastructure projects were discussed.

During the discussion, the participants voiced the position that in the context of the growing demand of the countries of Central and South Asia in infrastructure, it is necessary to increase the volume of attracting investments for the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects, which, in turn, will form the preconditions for the creation of joint industrial enterprises and the promotion of manufactured products in markets of third countries and, as a result, will contribute to the accelerated economic growth of the countries of the region.

As a result of the event, a question and answer session was held, during which additional issues were considered within the framework of the topics discussed.

At the end of the discussion, the need to intensify multilateral negotiations on various discussion platforms of a similar plan was noted in order to develop new ideas and proposals for further cooperation.