Uzbekistan, Turkey plant to lift trade turnover to US$5bn

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu arrived in Uzbekistan on 10 July with three-day official visit.

Ahmet Davutoğlu said that during the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov, the sides developed a road map, directed at developing bilateral relations. He added that President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov supported the road map.

Turkish top diplomat said that the sides are planning to increase bilateral trade from US$1.3 billion to US$3 billion and further to US$5 billion. He said that trade turnover between two states reached US$550 million in January-May 2014, which rose by 14% year-on-year.

Davutoğlu underlined that if the figure grows by 20-25% by the end of 2014, the main goal will be achieved.

He said that Turkey is also planning to increase the volume of investments to Uzbekistan from US$1 billion to US$5 billion.

Ahmet Davutoğlu said that Uzbekistan and Turkey agreed to hold a session of joint commission on economic cooperation and business forum of entrepreneurs of two states. He noted that these events will help the sides to achieve their goals.

He said that Uzbekistan and Turkey also agreed to hold meetings of the foreign ministers and the heads of the states each year. The sides also are planning to hold regular meetings of the ministers of energy, tourism, transport and culture.