Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 22 October, Washington hosted a meeting between the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov and US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, the press service of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade reported.

During the meeting, the participants exchanged views on the current state of mutual trade and promising mechanisms for increasing trade between the United States and Uzbekistan. In this vein, the parties recognized the need for regular interaction at the interdepartmental level to expedite the resolution of existing issues and remove barriers to investment and trade and economic cooperation.

During the dialogue, the Uzbek side voiced a proposal to intensify mutual trade by increasing the export of Uzbekistan to the United States by 60 items of commodity nomenclature totaling US$1.5 billion, which was positively received and accepted for study by the American side. The list of export-oriented products indicating volumes was transferred to the leadership of the US Department of Commerce in order to further develop trade agreements and contracts.

American colleagues expressed their readiness to carefully study the need of the American market for the goods offered for sale and to assist in bringing Uzbek producers to the American market.

 Also within the framework of the meeting, a proposal was announced to increase the level of trade and economic cooperation between the countries of the Central Asian region and the USA by organizing a platform for interstate cooperation at the ministerial level in the “C5 + 1” format with the participation of ministers responsible for foreign economic and foreign trade activities.

Separately, during the meeting, issues of supporting the American side to the process of Uzbekistan’s entry into the WTO were discussed.

As a result of the meeting, it was decided to create an interdepartmental working group consisting of high-level experts from the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan and the US Department of Commerce in order to ensure constant joint work to intensify mutual trade and quickly resolve issues.