Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) – On 31 May 2022, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to our country (with residence in Moscow) Alison Mary Leclerc.

The Ambassador of Canada highly appreciated the ambitious reforms being carried out in Uzbekistan in various spheres of the life of the state and society. It was noted that despite the difficult situation in the world, Uzbekistan continues to move steadily along the path of reforms. The readiness of the Government of Canada to support Uzbekistan in this direction was reported.

The parties were unanimous in their opinion on the need for more efficient use of the potential of cooperation. Alison Mary Leclerc stressed Ottawa’s commitment to a comprehensive build-up of political dialogue with the Republic of Uzbekistan. As a first step, the issue of resuming the practice of holding inter-MFA consultations, which were postponed due to the pandemic, is being considered.

The presence of opportunities for building up trade, economic and investment cooperation was emphasized. It was noted that the Uzbek-Canadian trade turnover rose by more than 38% in 2021 compared to 2020. According to Canadian diplomat, Uzbekistan is a promising direction for Canadian business, which plans to take an active part in the privatization processes in the country, create jobs, and develop "green technologies".

Issues of building up contacts in the field of education were discussed. The parties expressed their readiness to consider the issue of opening branches of the leading higher educational institutions of this country in Uzbekistan, joint training of personnel in various sectors of the economy.

In order to deepen cooperation, the parties also agreed to study the issue of opening a Canada Visa Application Center in Tashkent.

During the meeting, an exchange of views took place on issues of international and regional politics. The Canadian side expressed gratitude to Uzbekistan for the feasible humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, which plays an extremely important role in the socio-economic recovery of the country.