Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 18 April, a government delegation of Uzbekistan led by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov and consisting of heads of key ministries and departments flew to Riyadh to hold talks on further expansion of bilateral cooperation in priority areas.

The first event of the visit was the meeting of the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov with the Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud.

During the meeting, the current state of the Uzbek-Saudi partnership in the energy sector, the implementation of joint projects and prospects for expanding the joint investment portfolio in this sector were discussed.

Saudi Arabia is currently one of the largest foreign investors in the energy sector of Uzbekistan. This was largely due to the successful operation of the Saudi ACWA Power in the country, the total cost of projects of which exceeds US$2.5 billion. Currently at the implementation stage are: a project for the construction of a combined cycle power plant with a capacity of 1.5 GW in Syrdarya region and projects for the construction of two wind farms with a total capacity of 1 GW in Bukhara region. In February of this year, the construction of another wind farm with a capacity of 100 MW was launched in the Republic of Karakalpakstan.

During the dialogue, significant prospects were noted for further deepening cooperation in the field of renewable energy in order to bring the share of alternative energy sources in the country’s total energy balance to 25 percent by 2026. The parties agreed to work out new directions for the implementation of joint investment projects, taking into account the successful experience gained by Saudi investors in this area. In particular, attention was paid to projects to increase the production of natural gas and its further processing in order to produce raw materials for the chemical industry. In the near future, the heads of leading Saudi companies will visit Uzbekistan to develop practical aspects of cooperation.

As a result of the meeting, further steps were outlined to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and develop new areas of partnership.