Uzbekistan-Russia business forum was held today in Tashkent. The Russian delegation was headed by the Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov.
During the forum, the attendees discussed the ways to expand strategic partnerships between Uzbekistan and Russia.
It was noted that in the first half-year of 2017, Russia is back in the first place among Uzbekistan’s trade partners. The two-way trade turnover between the countries increased by 20%.
Attendees noted that to keep up this trend, it is necessary to implement the accords on paper into new mutually beneficial projects.
Minister Manturov proposed to diversify the range of traded goods.
"Now non-primary products account for over 90% of turnover, and we believe that we need to foster cooperation in the high-tech sectors," he said.
He also proposed to expand the supplied range so that there is no conflict of interests with Uzbek manufacturers.
He also suggested working out the issue of cooperation within the framework of major infrastructure and sectoral reforms in Uzbekistan’s industrial sector.
He also proposed the creation of new production capacities both in Russia and Uzbekistan.
"We see automotive, machine-tool and agricultural machinery production as priority areas of such cooperation. We understand that nowadays every country in competition for markets seeks to protect local producers and build barriers to foreign companies, and deals are not always reached, therefore setting up joint ventures with a sufficient degree of localization is the best way out, " the Russian Minister of industry and trade underscored.
