Uzbekistan - Turkey: prospects for economic cooperation in the new realities

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Think tanks of Uzbekistan and Turkey discussed issues of further development of trade and economic cooperation, scientific exchange, deepening industrial cooperation and a number of others. The event was attended by an expert of CERR.

An international round table was held in Tashkent on the topic: "Results of the official visit of the President of Turkey to Uzbekistan: a new stage in multifaceted relations." The event is organized by the Development Strategy Center in cooperation with the Ankara Center for Crisis and Policy Studies (ANKASAM).

During the round table, leading experts from the analytical centers of the two countries reviewed the results of the official visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Uzbekistan on 29-30 March 2022. Issues of practical implementation of the agreements reached at the highest level were discussed.

Deputy Director of the Center for Economic Research and Reforms (CERR) Mukhsinjon Kholmukhameov made a presentation at the event. In his speech, the CERR expert paid special attention to the Uzbek-Turkish cooperation in the field of prospects for trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

The expert noted the commonality of Turkey’s and Uzbekistan’s approaches to economic reforms.

“When analyzing the new Turkish reforms, there is a strong similarity with the reforms currently being carried out in Uzbekistan as part of the new Development Strategy of the New Uzbekistan, the goal of which, like in Turkey, is to achieve global competitiveness,” the CERR representative emphasized.

According to him, the results of trade, economic and investment activities testify to dynamic cooperation in recent years. In particular, in the period 2016-2021, trade between Uzbekistan and Turkey increased 2.9 times, exports - 2.5 times, imports - 3.5 times.

“As a result of the rapid growth in the volume of mutual trade between Uzbekistan and Turkey in 2021, Turkey has become the fourth foreign trade partner of Uzbekistan. Over the past three years, the volume of Turkish investments in the economy of Uzbekistan has doubled and by the end of 2021 amounted to US$1.2 billion,” the CERR expert noted.

Speaking about the expansion of supplies to the Turkish market, the expert stressed that the reforms of industries carried out over the past years have increased their competitiveness, and Uzbekistan can significantly expand the supply of products from the light, chemical, metallurgical industries, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, leather and footwear and agricultural products to the Turkish market. goods.

Another priority area of Uzbek-Turkish cooperation, according to the representative of the CERR, is the great potential in the field of training vocational personnel in cooperation with Turkish specialists who have extensive experience in training personnel for European labor markets, with appropriate standards and training technologies.