Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A meeting was held between the Ambassador of Uzbekistan Ravshan Usmanov and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of that country Sayfuddin Abdullah in the capital of Malaysia, at which the parties summed up the results of bilateral cooperation and discussed further prospects for its development, Dunyo news agency reported.

In particular, the Malaysian Foreign Minister praised the results of the visits of several delegations of Uzbekistan, including the visits of the Khorezm Region Governor F. Ermanov, Minister of Culture B. Saifullaev, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan R. Kasymov and Deputy Prime Minister E. Ganiev, as well as visits Malaysian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs M. Yahya, a parliamentary delegation led by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives R. Hassnon to Uzbekistan.

The parties reviewed the implementation of the agreements reached as a result of the 4th round of the MFA consultations held in September last year in Tashkent.

Special attention was paid to expanding trade, economic and investment cooperation. It was noted that the visit of a representative delegation of business circles of Malaysia headed by Deputy Director of the Malaysian Corporation for the Development of Foreign Trade (MATRADE) Mohd Mustafa to Uzbekistan on 14-16 October 2019 and the joint business forum and B2B meetings held as part of it, as well as the opening of an office MATRADE in the capital of our country will undoubtedly contribute to the further development of bilateral relations.

The positive growth of trade relations was noted with satisfaction. In particular, in January-November 2019, the volume of trade made up US$106 million with an increase of 50% compared to the same period of 2018.

The tourism sector is identified as one of the priority areas for strengthening cooperation. In 2019, the number of tourists from Uzbekistan visiting Malaysia amounted to 4,388 people, with an increase of about 60% compared to 2018 (2,768 people).

The Malaysian side also welcomed the activities of the diplomatic mission to establish cooperation between the regions of the two countries. In particular, in 2019, representatives of the embassy visited six Malaysian states.

The parties expressed their commitment to continue a productive partnership in the field of education, including through the opening of branches of Malaysian universities in Uzbekistan. A vivid example is the Uzbek-Malaysian faculty created jointly with Binary University on the basis of the Tashkent Financial Institute.

In conclusion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia and the Ambassador of Uzbekistan reaffirmed their mutual interest in realizing the significant potential for expanding cooperation in the political, trade, economic, investment, tourism, cultural, humanitarian and other fields.