On June 11, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held talks with the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Suma Chakrabarti, in the form of video conferencing, the presidential press service said.

Thanks to the joint implementation of the provisions of the Bank’s Country Strategy and the Road Map, today the EBRD is one of the key partners in promoting priority programs and projects aimed at ensuring sustainable socio-economic development in our country, the statement noted.

The parties reportedly commended expansion of the EBRD’s representative office in Tashkent, opening of an office in Andijan, with another office in Urgench due next year.

Suma Chakrabarti commended the measures taken in the country to mitigate the consequences of the emergency in the Syrdarya province and to prevent the spread of the pandemic in Uzbekistan.

The counterparts reviewed the ways to expand cooperation, focusing on the EBRD's participation in the transformation of state-owned enterprises and the privatization of banks, the promotion of reforms in the energy sector and the oil-gas sector, the effective disbursement of loans, and the expansion of business financing, including projects in the textile industry.

An agreement was reached to continue intensive contacts and exchanges, including joint preparation of a future meeting of the Council of Foreign Investors in Tashkent and a meeting of the EBRD Governing Council in Samarkand in 2023.