Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 16 March 2021, an unofficial meeting of the co-chairs of the Uzbek-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation (IGC) - Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov and Minister economic development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov.

As part of the agenda of the meeting, the current state of implementation of the agreements reached following the 21st meeting of the IGC between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation, held on 12 October 2020, was analyzed.

The reports of bilateral working groups on the results of the elaboration of certain areas of partnership were considered, topical issues were considered and mutually beneficial solutions were developed.

In this vein, the parties highly appreciated the importance of bilateral talks held on a monthly basis in various formats at the level of the IGC co-chairs to discuss topical issues of bilateral trade, economic, investment and industrial cooperation. An agreement was reached to intensify interaction between the ministries and departments of the two countries to develop constructive proposals for building up economic partnership, for which, in the near future, meetings of subcommittees will be organized in relevant areas to discuss issues of bilateral cooperation.

An understanding was reached on the priority areas of expanding investment cooperation, meaning the joint development of new promising projects in various sectors of the economy.

The commitment of the governments of the two countries to maintaining a steady growth in the volume of mutual trade was emphasized, in connection with which the parties agreed to continue the development and implementation of practical measures aimed at ensuring unimpeded cargo transportation through the territories of the two states, as well as promising mechanisms for combining tariff and non-tariff regulation methods, which will increase and diversify trade.

As a result of the negotiations, the parties came to an agreement to continue the practice of regular negotiations in an expanded format through the relevant ministries and departments on a systematic basis for the purpose of high-quality and timely implementation of the agreements reached, as well as the development of new investment projects and trade contracts.