Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 25 June 2020, in order to expand trade, economic, investment and regional cooperation between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Italian Republic, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan together with the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Italy and Italo-Uzbek The Chamber of Commerce organized the Uzbek-Italian business forum (in the field of pharmaceuticals) in the form of video conference.

The event was attended by the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan Adham Ikramov, President of the Italian-Uzbek Chamber of Commerce Luigi Iperti, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to the Italian Republic Otabek Akbarov, Director of the Agency for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry Sardor Kariev, as well as representatives of regional departments of the CCI and business circles of the two countries in the pharmaceutical field.

It should be noted that this video conference is a logical continuation of the video meeting, which took place on 14 May, where it was agreed to organize a joint business forum with the participation of pharmaceutical companies in Uzbekistan and Italy. We also recall that on 21 November 2019, a delegation of the Lombardy region headed by the Governor A. Fontana paid a visit to Uzbekistan. Within the framework of this visit, a B2B cooperation exchange and an Uzbek-Italian business forum were organized.

According to the results of 2019, the trade turnover between the countries made up US$402.3 million US dollars (compared with 2018 (US$303.2 million), an increase of 32%), where export accounted for US$26.6 million, imports US$375.7 million.

The export structure is mainly represented by services, fabrics and yarn, cotton and dried fruits. The nomenclature of imports consists of mechanical and electrical equipment, automobile parts, plastic products, pharmaceutical and textile products, as well as building materials.

In Uzbekistan, 50 enterprises with Italian capital are operating, 14 of them with 100% Italian capital. The main areas of activity are the production of soft drinks, wine, bottle fittings, perfumes, ice cream, knitwear, consumer goods, cotton waste processing, trade and intermediary services.

During today’s videoconference, issues of developing inter-regional cooperation in the field of pharmaceutical production, including the exchange of experience and training, as well as the introduction of modern technologies in the pharmaceutical production process with the aim of further exporting Uzbek products to the European market, were discussed.

The meeting also presented a number of presentations from representatives of leading Italian companies engaged in the pharmaceutical field.

Within the framework of this videoconference between the representatives of the two countries, the prospects for further development of the Uzbek-Italian trade and economic cooperation were discussed, including an exchange of views on enhancing partnerships between pharmaceutical companies of Uzbekistan and Italy.