On June 30, Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov held a meeting with Executive Director of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Adam Boehler, during which they discussed prospects for the development of cooperation in the context of strengthening bilateral relations between Uzbekistan and the United States.
American partners were invited to consider a package of 27 specific investment projects in agriculture, light industry, pharmaceuticals and the production of building materials, the MIFT press service reported.
The American side expressed its readiness to consider opportunities for participation in Public-Private Partnership projects in the fields of solar and wind energy, as well as in the transport sector.
The parties also discussed the prospects for attracting DFC in financing private investors involved in the privatization of large state-owned enterprises and commercial banks in Uzbekistan.
The possibility of creating a joint investment fund with equity participation of the DFC and the government of Uzbekistan with the prospect of attracting the governments of other CA countries and Afghanistan was also separately discussed. The objective of the fund will be the implementation of priority projects of regional importance in the fields of energy, infrastructure, education, healthcare, as well as initiatives aimed at supporting women’s entrepreneurship and ensuring employment of the population.
The issues of the potential involvement of other interested parties to participate in the creation of the fund were considered.
Issues of the development of economic cooperation in the region were also touched upon: the importance of further cooperation in order to organize effective logistics routes and expand transnational railway infrastructure for connecting with large transport hubs of international importance was noted.
Following the negotiations, an agreement was reached on the creation of a joint working group in order to implement qualitatively the reached agreements and develop new areas of partnership.
