Uzbekistan and Romania Eye Constanța Port as Trade Gateway

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan and Romania have singled out Romania's Black Sea port of Constanța as a critical transit node in their bilateral economic relationship, as senior officials from both countries used the margins of the Fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum to map out an ambitious multi-sector cooperation agenda.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Mirvohid Azimov met on June 17 with Ramona Mănescu — former Romanian Foreign Minister and Transport Minister, and Honorary Consul of Uzbekistan in Romania — alongside Romania's Ambassador to Uzbekistan Daniel Ciobanu. The diplomatic weight of the delegation, spanning active and former ministerial figures, signals that both sides are treating the relationship as a strategic priority rather than a courtesy engagement.

Constanța as the Corridor's Western Anchor

Transport and logistics occupied a prominent place in the discussions, with both sides underlining the importance of effectively utilizing the transit and logistics potential of the Port of Constanța. As a major Black Sea hub and the largest port in the EU by cargo volume, Constanța represents a natural western terminus for cargo moving along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route — commonly known as the Middle Corridor — connecting Central Asia to European markets via the Caucasus and Turkey. For landlocked Uzbekistan, deepening ties with Constanța's operational ecosystem directly addresses one of its most persistent structural trade constraints.

Initiatives discussed included the creation of logistics centers and joint ventures on the territories of both Uzbekistan and Romania, moves that would embed bilateral commercial infrastructure at both ends of the corridor.

A Broad Sectoral Agenda

Beyond logistics, the talks covered trade, investment, innovation, pharmaceuticals, industry, agriculture, and cultural and humanitarian cooperation — a breadth that reflects an early-stage relationship with significant room to grow across multiple dimensions. No specific deal figures or project timelines were disclosed, suggesting the meeting was oriented toward framework-setting ahead of more targeted follow-up engagement.