Uzbekistan, Italy intend to boost bilateral cooperation 

According to the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade (MIFT), the meeting was an opportunity to review the current state of Uzbek-Italian relations and develop measures to further strengthen them. Discussing the broad agenda of Uzbek-Italian cooperation, the parties paid special attention to measures to further increase investment, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian cooperation.

Positive results were noted in the development of mutual trade: at the end of 2021, the volume of trade between Uzbekistan and Italy increased by 25%. Growth trends were also observed in the first quarter of this year due to an increase in the supply of textiles, food, leather goods, equipment and other goods. The parties considered further joint actions to increase bilateral trade and agreed to intensify work in this direction.

No less attention was paid to mechanisms for deepening investment cooperation. The number of enterprises with Italian capital operating in Uzbekistan has doubled over the past five years, covering such new areas as the mining sector, metallurgy, petrochemical and electrical industries, as well as the production of building materials. The relevance of continuing work to bring the business circles of the two countries closer and attract Italian investments and technologies for the implementation of projects in Uzbekistan was emphasized.

They also touched upon issues of interaction in the energy sector, in the field of regional cooperation, measures to prepare for holding bilateral events, including the regular meeting of the Uzbek-Italian Intergovernmental Working Group on trade, economic and industrial cooperation.

After exchanging views on key issues on the bilateral partnership agenda, the parties reached important agreements on further cooperation, which will make it possible to make significant progress in the implementation of joint projects and initiatives.