Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - On 16 April, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov held a video conference with the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Roman Sklyar.

During the conversation, the current state and prospects of further strengthening bilateral cooperation in the trade, economic, investment, transport and logistics spheres, as well as measures taken by the governments of the two countries aimed at mitigating the economic consequences of the global crisis connected with the pandemic were discussed.

The effective interaction established between the ministries and departments of the two countries on the development of cooperation in the field of trade, industrial cooperation and in the transport and logistics sphere was emphasized - currently significant progress has been achieved in joint work to remove trade barriers, expand the range and volume of bilateral trade and develop cross-country production chains.

In this vein, the parties agreed on the need to intensify systematic work to simplify and harmonize customs norms and standards, and to integrate information systems of customs services.

The commitment of the governments of both countries to make efforts to maintain sustainable mutual trade was emphasized, bearing in mind the adoption of operational measures to ensure unhindered freight traffic through the territories of the two states.

Moreover, specific mechanisms for combining the methods of tariff and non-tariff regulation were considered, which will increase the volume of trade between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in the current economic situation to US$5 billion per year.

Following the talks, an agreement was reached on active communication between the heads of relevant ministries and departments of the two countries through video conferencing as part of the study of issues in the designated areas.