On the afternoon of August 17, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev arrived in the city of Jeddah as part of a state visit to Saudi Arabia, the presidential press service said.
At the King Abdulaziz airport, the Uzbek leader was welcomed by the leaders of the province of Mecca, the Minister of Investments Khalid al-Falih and other officials.
The ceremony of the official meeting of the Uzbek President with the participation of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud was held at the Qasr al-Salam Palace in Jeddah. Then the parties started the talks.
The parties underscored the intensification of contacts at different levels, in addition, meetings of the intergovernmental commission and the business council are being held regularly, the volume of trade is growing, and joint ventures are being created.
At the same time, the countries have a huge untapped potential to upgrade relations to a qualitatively new level, primarily in the trade and economic sphere, the meeting said.
The President of Uzbekistan expressed confidence that his first state visit to Saudi Arabia would open wide opportunities for this.
The parties discussed issues of further expansion of mutually beneficial ties in the political, trade, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian spheres.
The sides pointed to the need to facilitate building up contacts between businesses, increasing volumes, and diversifying the structure of mutual trade. One of the important steps in this area will be the introduction of a visa-free regime for entry into Uzbekistan for citizens of Saudi Arabia.
“I am sure that today's historic meeting will serve as a powerful signal to enrich our cooperation and strengthen business ties. The businesses of our countries are looking forward to the results of our negotiations,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The President invited leading Saudi companies to take an active part in the privatization of commercial banks, large industrial facilities and infrastructure in Uzbekistan.
The parties expressed mutual interest in building up partnership in the field of energy and petrochemistry. Currently, together with ACWA Power, the implementation of large energy projects worth $2 billion 600 million has begun. Promising prospects have a partnership with Sabic in the chemical industry.
The issues of implementation of infrastructure projects in the areas of transport, water supply, development of electricity networks, social sphere in the regions of Uzbekistan with the participation of the Saudi Development Fund were considered.
The successful holding of the next meeting of the Uzbek-Saudi Business Council was noted with satisfaction. As a result, agreements and contracts were signed for more than $14 billion in the energy, chemical, electrical sectors, infrastructure development, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, information technology, and transport.
The parties exchanged views on topical issues of the international and regional agenda, the negotiations showed the coincidence of the views and approaches of Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia "in a number of aspects and expressed readiness for establishing a dialogue in the field of security, for consolidated assistance in strengthening peace in Afghanistan and restoring the economy of this country.
The President of Uzbekistan welcomed the receipt by Saudi Arabia of the status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. As a result of the talks, the signed documents were exchanged.
A joint statement was adopted on expanding full-scale partnership relations between Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia.
At the level of governments and ministries of the two countries, 15 documents on cooperation were signed in such areas as energy, customs, civil aviation, tourism, agriculture, healthcare, labor relations and others.
