Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 5 May, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov, through video conferencing, held talks with the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Industry and Trade, Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic Karel Havlíček.

The parties discussed the current state of investment and trade and economic cooperation, noting the significant progress observed in recent years in the development of bilateral partnerships, and also voiced mutual intentions to further support the interaction between the business circles of the two countries. Wide opportunities were highlighted for combining advanced Czech technologies with the resource and production potential of Uzbekistan in order to launch production of high-tech products with high added value.

The priority areas for expanding the scope of cooperation were agriculture, medicine and the production of medical equipment, automotive, metallurgy, the production of agricultural machinery, building materials, and the textile industry, in particular, the areas of nano-textiles, non-woven materials, and technical textiles. In these sectors, the relevant departments of the two countries will jointly study promising investment projects and select potential partners.

The parties agreed to carry out intensive work on preparations for the 9th meeting of the Uzbek-Czech Intergovernmental Commission (IPC) on economic, industrial and scientific-technical cooperation with the organization of a business forum in the second half of this year, as well as accelerate the preparation and signing Memorandum on deepening bilateral economic relations between the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, as well as agreement on cooperation between the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic.

In addition, an agreement was reached on the establishment of the Uzbek-Czech Working Group on Agriculture, whose task will be to increase mutual trade in this area.

Special attention will be paid to expanding cooperation in the financial and technical sphere by establishing cooperation with organizations such as Czech Export Bank, the Czech branch of Uni Credit Bank and EGAP (Export Guarantee Insurance Company), attracting preferential financing for projects and increasing qualifications of Uzbek specialists in the field of finance and insurance.

The Czech side expressed its readiness to provide comprehensive support to Uzbekistan in issues of joining the World Trade Organization, obtaining the status of a beneficiary country of the European Union “GSP +” system of preferences and preparing an Agreement on Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation with the EU.

As a result of the meeting, it was agreed to create a joint working group at the level of deputy heads of foreign economic departments of the two countries to study and achieve solid investment and trade agreements, identify new promising areas of bilateral cooperation, as well as monitor the implementation of all agreements in trade, economic, investment, financial and technical and humanitarian spheres.