On January 16, the Deputy PM/Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov helh online negotiations with the Minister of Investments of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Khalid Al-Falih, the Uzbek Ministry said.
The parties reportedly discussed the current state and prospects of bilateral cooperation in trade, economic, investment, energy, cultural and humanitarian spheres and commended the experience of work of Saudi companies in Uzbekistan’s energy sector - on March 5, last year, an agreement was reached with ACWA Power to build a thermal power plant in the Syrdarya province worth US$ 1.2 billion. “The project of the Acwa Power company is a successful example of our cooperation. At the same time, we should not be limited only to energy projects. We are expecting concrete outcomes from the upcoming bilateral events, which could significantly raise the level of our partnership in various fields,” said Khalid Al-Falih.
He expressed interest in expanding investment cooperation and establishing business partnership ties between the businesses of the two countries. In this regard, the parties agreed to organize the visit of the Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia to Uzbekistan at the head of the Saudi business delegation this month.
Within the framework of the visit, a number of bilateral events are scheduled, including the Uzbek-Saudi Business Forum featuring presentations of existing opportunities for investment cooperation and specific projects, the first meeting of the Uzbek-Saudi Business Council with the involvement of the chambers of commerce and industry of the two countries, as well as meetings in G2G, G2B and B2B formats to reach specific agreements on the most promising and mutually beneficial investment projects.
In addition, it is planned to hold a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site of a thermal power plant in Syrdarya province, the signing of an investment agreement with ACWA Pоwer for the construction of a wind farm in Uzbekistan worth US$ 1.4 billion, as well as the opening of an energy college in Shirin city.
