EU to help Uzbekistan mitigate negative consequences of the pandemic

Umurzakov expressed gratitude for the allocation of financial assistance in the amount of 36 million euros for the implementation of practical measures to reduce the impact of the pandemic on the socio-economic development of Uzbekistan, the MIFT press service said.

During the talks, priority areas for further cooperation were identified. This includes mitigation of the negative consequences of COVID-19 on the economy of Uzbekistan as well as poverty reduction. For these purposes, a significant part of funding within the framework of the next EU budget period for 2021-2027 will be allocated.

An agreement was also reached to intensify work on accelerating the approval of the draft Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) between Uzbekistan and the EU, for which the prospects of holding the sixth round of negotiations in the near future were considered.

Particular attention was paid to the measures being implemented in preparation for the fourth meeting of the Working Group on Uzbekistan’s entry into the WTO, as well as the process of obtaining the status of a beneficiary country in the EU “GSP +” preference system.

Positive dynamics in the sphere of financial and technical cooperation were especially noted. PM Umurzakov expressed gratitude to the European side for the allocation of 10 million euros as part of the project “Agriculture sector budget support and complementary assistance for Uzbekistan”, the total cost of which is 40 million euros.

In addition, organizational issues related to the holding of a number of bilateral events scheduled for the current year by means of video conferencing were considered.