The talks between the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev took place in an extended format with the participation of the official delegations of the two countries.
The sides disscussed issues of further enhancing Uzbek-Azerbaijani relations of strategic partnership and developing multifaceted cooperation, primarily in political, trade, economic, transport, communications, cultural and humanitarian spheres.
The head of our state noted that relations between the two countries, whose peoples are closely connected by a common religion, spiritual values, similar traditions, language, and culture, are at the highest level of development.
The Uzbek leader congratulated the Azerbaijani people on the centenary anniversary of the birth of the outstanding statesman and national leader Heydar Aliyev.
The Presidents highly appreciated the outcomes of the business forum held recently with the participation of leading Uzbek and Azerbaijani companies.
The dynamic growth of trade and industrial cooperation was noted with satisfaction. The sides stressed that there is every possibility to increase the trade turnover to $1 billion in the coming years by replacing expensive imports from third countries with affordable and quality products of national manufacturers.
Regarding the development of industrial cooperation, the Presidents welcomed the firm agreements reached on joint implementation of important projects in the energy, metallurgy, mining, machine-building, electro technical, textile, pharmaceutical, agro-industrial and other sectors.
The importance of active use of the jointly established Investment Fund in support of the above-mentioned projects was emphasized.
The sides also expressed support for the development of interregional cooperation, particularly the establishment of direct contacts and regular meetings of the heads of regional administrations to promote new cooperation projects based on their industrial potential.
The two leaders stressed the strategic importance of developing cooperation in transport and transit.
Over the past year, the volume of Uzbek cargo transported through the port of Baku has almost doubled. Uzbekistan intends to further increase cargo transport through Azerbaijan’s modern transport network.
In this context, measures to establish a joint logistics company within the Trans-Caspian corridor, as well as the construction of warehouse infrastructure and logistics centers in the ports of Baku and third countries, were discussed.
A number of other agreements were reached on strengthening cultural and humanitarian ties, in particular on holding days of culture and cinema, meetings of creative and scientific intelligentsia, and youth organizations.
During the meeting, the reports of the heads of foreign ministries, co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Commission, ministers of transport, energy, agriculture, and culture on the agenda of the talks were heard.
As a result, the Heads of State instructed to prepare a number of joint roadmaps and set up mechanisms for effective implementation of the agreements reached.