Uzbekistan and Germany discuss development of trade and economic relations

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The 15th meeting of the Uzbek-German Intergovernmental Working Group on Trade and Investment was held on 18 October at the building of the State Investment Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The event was held with the participation of the Ministries of Foreign Trade, Agriculture, Innovative Development, the State Committee for Tourism Development, to promote privatized enterprises and the development of competition, on ecology and environmental protection, and with the participation of national companies of Uzbekistan.

The German delegation included specialists from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Representative Office of the German Economy in Central Asia, the Eastern Committee of the German Economy, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Germany Trade & Invest Agency.

Laziz Kudratov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Investment Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and Eckhard Franz, Deputy Minister, Head of the Foreign Economic Policy Department of the Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy of Germany welcomed the participants to the meeting.

The Intergovernmental Working Group on Trade and Investment, along with the German-Uzbek Business Council, are among the most important mechanisms for developing bilateral relations in the areas of investment cooperation, trade, banking and financial services, energy, education, scientific development, sustainable development and environmental protection.

As of 1 October 2018, 147 enterprises with the participation of German capital are operating in the republic, 102 of them are joint ventures, 45 with 100% capital from Germany. Special prospects are opening up for German companies to implement investment projects in the Navoi FEZ and Angren FEZ, where favorable conditions and preferences have been created for representatives of business circles.

In an interview with journalists, Eckhard Franz noted that during the meeting the sides discussed many issues related to areas of cooperation in the field of energy, agriculture, banking sector, framework conditions for economic activity in Uzbekistan for foreign companies, which want to expand their activities here.

He stressed that the German representatives of the delegation were very impressed with the implementation of a number of reforms in Uzbekistan over the past two years, which undoubtedly led to the stimulation of economic activity. In turn, this will continue to dynamize the level of cooperation between Germany and Uzbekistan.

 “We took note that in the Doing Business report from the World Bank, Uzbekistan raised its indicators, and we believe that this development will continue. “A number of visits by high-ranking officials of your country to our country are expected,” said Eckhard Franz. “Today, the level of relations between Uzbekistan and Germany is very good and there is a high potential to develop it even further.”

Also during the meeting, issues of development of trade and investment opportunities between Uzbekistan and Germany, cooperation in the field of small and medium business, including the creation of a special industrial zone on the basis of Algorithm, in the field of energy and banking services, to improve management skills were discussed. personnel in economic activities under the program of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy.

“Deutsche Bank has been cooperating with Uzbekistan since 1992, when we started the first projects with Uzbek banks, noted Yorg Bongartz, Managing Director for Central and Eastern Europe at Deutsche Bank - Over the years of cooperation with Uzbek banks, we have expanded our activities, and today we are financing projects not only with Germany. In recent years, some large projects have been financed, in particular, the import of Uzbekistan’s products to Italy from Spain and France. Recently, a loan agreement was signed regarding financing in the oil and gas sector. We exchanged views with colleagues on how to stimulate trade and investment. It is worth noting that the interest of German companies is growing, it has been repeatedly discussed at various meetings with the participation of the Eastern Committee of the German economy. Secondly, there was a discussion about the need to attract investors for the capital market. ”

Following the event, the parties discussed the date and venue for the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Trade and Investment.