Tashkent hosted Uzbekistan – Saudi Arabia Business Forum. It was organized by the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Investment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The event was attended by the Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjayev, the Minister of Investment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Khalid Al-Falih, heads of ministries, agencies and over 100 leading companies of both countries.
The heads of delegations emphasized that the visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Saudi Arabia in August this year served as a powerful impetus for the comprehensive deepening of relations between Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia, demonstrating positive development dynamics in recent years. In particular, the volume of mutual trade between the two countries in January-November this year increased nine times compared to the same period last year.
Positive growth dynamics are also observed in investment cooperation. Over the past few years, the number of companies with Saudi capital in Uzbekistan has increased fivefold. Together with Saudi companies, projects worth more than $17 billion are being implemented in energy, petrochemicals, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.
“Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia have rich natural resources and huge industrial potential,” says Jamshid Khodjayev. – We can create joint ventures in both Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia, aimed at the production of high-value-added products with further export to regional and European markets, as well as to the countries of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area with a total population of more than 1.4 billion potential consumers.
The Saudi side highly appreciated the pace and effectiveness of the socio-economic reforms being carried out in Uzbekistan and the opportunities for a breakthrough expansion of bilateral investment, trade and economic cooperation. The Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia expressed his commitment to the implementation of practical measures to strengthen investment and trade ties between the two countries and called on Saudi entrepreneurs to conclude mutually beneficial contracts and agreements.
Promising areas for investment cooperation have been identified in oil and gas and petrochemical industries, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, food, textile, leather and footwear industries, sericulture, infrastructure construction and tourism.
During the B2B and G2B talks, the mutual interest of business circles in building ties was noted.
Following the event, documents in priority sectors were signed, the implementation of which will significantly expand the scale of multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia.
