The President of Uzbekistan meets with Turkish business leaders

On February 20, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev met in Ankara with leaders of major Turkish companies and banks. The event was attended by heads of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, the Turkish Agency for Cooperation and Coordination (TiKA), Gebze Organized Industrial Zone, Ziraat Bank, of such companies as Zorlu Holding, Coşkunöz Holding, Exachibashi, Baykar, Dünyagöz, Kanymed Saglik, Bau Global, HAVELSAN.

The head of our state noted that during the talks with the President of Turkey, the sides agreed to provide comprehensive support for business relations between our two countries.

“Uzbekistan is not the one it used to be. Today, a company entering our country will definitely make benefit. I guarantee it. The legal and institutional conditions necessary for this will be created,” the head of our state informed the Turkish businesspeople.

It has become a tradition for Shavkat Mirziyoyev to hold meetings with local business communities during foreign visits. A similar session took place as part of a state visit to Turkey back in 2017. And in the following year, the Presidents of Uzbekistan and Turkey took part in a joint business forum in Tashkent. Owing to these events, confidence between the two nations’ business circles has consolidated, and trade, economic and investment partnerships intensified.

In recent years, the volume of bilateral trade has more than doubled. The number of joint ventures has grown by almost a thousand. Cargo volumes have increased.

Today, Turkish companies operate in Uzbekistan in industries such as construction, energy, textiles, agriculture, food processing, tourism and services. An important factor in effective cooperation is constant attention to the implementation of joint investment projects, stimulation of the production of high value-added goods in free economic and small industrial zones.

Thus, with the participation of the Turkish company Calik Enerji, the second combined-cycle plant of the Navoi Thermal Power Station was commissioned in 2019.

An office of the Turkish Agency for Cooperation and Coordination (TiKA) has been operating in Uzbekistan since 1993, taking active part in the realization of a number of projects aimed at bolstering the economic and technical capacities of medical and educational institutions in our country, at developing agriculture, small and medium-sized business.

Tourism has been one of the important areas of cooperation, too. Thanks to the introduction of a visa-free regime for Turkish citizens and the creation of favorable conditions for pilgrimage tourism, the number of travelers from Turkey has significantly increased. Additional flights were launched along the Samarkand-Istanbul route.

The meeting participants noted the importance of the full-blown execution of the deals and agreements, vigorous promotion of joint projects in the fields of trade, innovation, energy, infrastructure development, transport, tourism, textile and food industries as well as other spheres.
Representatives of Turkish business circles said that they had visited Uzbekistan last year and witnessed transformation across all sectors of the economy and the omnipresent ‘reformist’ thinking. They expressed desire to enter the market of Uzbekistan and spearhead joint promising projects.

Along with this, an agreement was reached with Ronesans Holding on direct investments in the modernization and development of Uzmetkombinat JSC in the amount of 630 million euros and Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Plant for 4.1 billion dollars, as well as on the implementation of new projects worth about 3 billion US dollars for the construction of hospitals and trade centers.

The meeting has served to discuss issues of consolidation of ties between the ministries and companies of the two countries, specific projects to expand the supply of products and services, establishment of clinics and higher education institutions. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved these plans, instructed those in charge to begin practical work as soon as possible and execute projects without bureaucratic obstacles.

UzA