U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Samarkand a day earlier, visited the historic Registan Square on Monday and said the United States wants to be a reliable partner for Central Asia.
He was accompanied by Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the Presidential Administration of Uzbekistan.
“The United States wants to be a reliable partner for Central Asia. First and foremost Uzbekistan, but also all neighboring countries interested in expanding trade and business ties with us,” Rubio said.
He said a delegation of nearly 300 American companies had come with him, and that the meetings could yield agreements worth billions of dollars benefiting both the region and the United States.
Asked by a Kun.uz correspondent about a possible visit to Uzbekistan by President Donald Trump, Rubio said he could not speak definitively about the president’s schedule, but the sides would like to work on it in the coming year. “He has said so himself,” Rubio said of Trump’s wish to come.
On Monday, Samarkand will host the second meeting of the U.S.-Uzbekistan Business and Investment Council and a C5+1 meeting of foreign ministers from the region and the United States. Rubio and Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov will also hold the first round of the Dialogue on the Expanded Strategic Partnership.
The Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade said six sector sessions are planned, covering digital technologies, education and health care, minerals, energy and transport, agriculture and textiles, and finance. Citigroup, JP Morgan and Franklin Templeton are listed for the finance session.
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