Uzbekistan and Iraq establish joint business council at Tashkent investment forum

Davron Vakhobov, the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan (CCI), and Ayubkhon Yunusov, Uzbekistan’s Ambassador to Kuwait, hosted the Iraqi delegation on June 18. The visiting delegation was led by Iraqi Minister of Trade Mustafa Nizar Jumaa and Ibrahim Al-Masoudi, the President of the Iraqi Economic Council.

Discussions during the meeting focused on the current state of bilateral trade and economic relations, with a particular emphasis on exploring underused potential. Both sides identified the food, electrical engineering, and construction sectors as key areas for immediate corporate collaboration. The delegations also considered practical frameworks to facilitate direct contact between private enterprises and to launch joint manufacturing ventures.

The partnership was formalized through the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the CCI and the Iraqi Economic Council, which serves as the founding document for the Uzbekistan–Iraq Business Council. The signing ceremony was accompanied by a series of business-to-business (B2B) networking sessions connecting manufacturers and investors from both countries.

According to the CCI press service, the council establishes a structured institutional foundation for long-term trade-and-economic partnerships, which will help systematically scale up commercial initiatives.

The council's formation follows strategic assessments by Davron Vakhabov in December 2025, during which he highlighted significant opportunities for Uzbek exporters in the Middle Eastern market. Vakhobov previously stated that Uzbek businesses face few logistical or regulatory hurdles in expanding operations to Iraq, estimating that bilateral trade could comfortably increase to $500 million in the coming years through targeted exports of construction materials, household appliances, and electrical components.