During the visit of the Uzbek government delegation to Turkey on July 28, the Deputy Prime Minister/ Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov met with the Turkish Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan, the Uzbek Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade said.

The parties reportedly exchanged views on the current pace of the trade ties and prospects for further increase in the two-way trade figures through the implementation of concrete measures.

The parties noted that the trade and economic partnership ties between Uzbekistan and Turkey is of strategic importance and has shown steady growth in recent years: in 2019, bilateral trade topped US$ 2.5 billion, an increase of 22.7% to the previous year. The parties reiterated their intention to elevate the bilateral trade to US$ 5 billion in the short term, despite the impact of the pandemic.

They also discussed a number of other topical issues, including the ties in the trade and economic areas, including measures taken to step up cooperation between the quarantine services of the two countries. This cooperation is expected to take place within the framework of the Agreement between the Government of Uzbekistan and the Government of Turkey on cooperation in the field of plant quarantine. The signing of the agreement will reduce the expenses of Uzbek and Turkish business in supplying products to the markets of both countries.

Particular attention was paid to strengthening cooperation in the field of transport and logistics. It was noted that in January this year in Tashkent the railway authorities of Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan signed a statement on the introduction of tariff reductions from 50% to 70% for freight. During the meeting, the Turkish side was invited to review the possible joining of the country's railway authority to the statement.

The implementation of the "Action Plan for Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Turkey" signed during a high-level visit to Turkey in February this year was also examined. The parties agreed to coordinate efforts to ensure the unconditional implementation of all provisions of this document and to introduce a new monitoring mechanism.

Following the meeting, further joint actions were planned in the framework of the identified areas of cooperation, and an agreement was reached to improve the coordination of cooperation at the level of foreign economic agencies of the two countries.