Today, Tashkent Hilton City hotel hosted an Uzbek-Saudi business forum, the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade said. Reportedly, the Business Forum was attended by the Deputy PM Jamshid Khodjaev, Minister of Investments of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Khalid al-Falih, heads of ministries, departments and executives of over 100 major companies of both countries.
The volume of the two-way trade between the two countries in January-November this year increased 9 times compared to the last year. The number of Saudi-invested companies in Uzbekistan has increased by 5 times. Projects worth more than $17 billion are being implemented together with Saudi companies in the fields of energy, petrochemicals, healthcare, infrastructure development, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.
Uzbek officials reiterated firm commitment to continue Uzbekistan reforms aimed at reducing the state's share in the economy and privatizing state-owned enterprises, transforming banks, creating an efficient stock market, and implementing projects in priority sectors on the principles of public-private partnership.
They announced opening opportunities for expanding the volume and geography of international trade, including through the effective use of free access to regional and EU markets based on GSP+ preferences, diversification of trade routes through the promotion of large-scale regional transport projects and the country's desire to join the WTO.
The parties outlined promising areas for investment cooperation - oil and gas and petrochemicals, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, food, textile, leather and footwear industries, sericulture, infrastructure construction and tourism.
Solid package of documents was signed at the forum in priority sectors, the implementation of which will significantly expand the scale of multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia, create new jobs and bring interaction between the business circles of the two countries to a higher level.
