Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Proposals for the progressive development of trade and economic cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and the Republic of Uzbekistan were developed during the 2nd meeting of the joint working group on interaction between the EEC and the Government of Uzbekistan. 

The event was held on 30 August at the EEC headquarters in a face-to-face format, co-chaired by the Minister for Integration and Macroeconomics of the Commission Sergey Glazyev and Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Badriddin Abidov. The meeting was attended by representatives of the EEC, government bodies of Uzbekistan and the EAEU member states, as well as business circles.

Sergey Glazyev noted that Uzbekistan is the closest partner of the EAEU both in terms of the scale of trade and economic cooperation, and in terms of the quality and depth of interaction.

“The results of joint efforts using the opportunities that the observer status gives Uzbekistan to the EAEU were not long in coming - we note growth in all indicators of trade and economic interaction. The significance of the EAEU and Uzbekistan for each other as trading partners is constantly increasing, and since the formation of the EAEU, the trade turnover of the Union states with Uzbekistan has doubled. Last year it exceeded US$11 billion,” Sergey Glazyev emphasized.

“For Uzbekistan, the EAEU is the most important trading partner. I note with satisfaction the productivity and content of the discussion, which contributed to the implementation of the initiatives of the head of Uzbekistan to intensify trade and economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and the EAEU and solve the problems of building up trade and economic ties between Uzbekistan and the EAEU, which are set by the Government of Uzbekistan in the framework of using the status of an observer state under EAEU,” Badriddin Abidov said in turn.

The meeting participants considered approaches to the harmonization of technical regulation and the elimination of technical barriers to trade; issues of customs regulation and the use of navigational seals to track the transportation of goods; implementation of joint activities in the field of industrial and agro-industrial cooperation; measures to develop transport corridors, digitalization and acceleration of rail freight; proposals to stimulate business activity between the business communities of the EAEU states and the Republic of Uzbekistan and others.

Director of the EEC Integration Development Department Gohar Barseghyan noted the high degree of implementation of the joint plans of the EEC and the Government of Uzbekistan.

“Of the 108 activities envisaged by the plan, 70% have been completed. Neither epidemiological restrictions nor any other factors had a significant impact on the effectiveness of our joint work,” said Gohar Barseghyan.

On the eve of the meeting of the working group, the Commission held thematic seminars for representatives of Uzbekistan, at which they were able to obtain information about the powers of the EAEU bodies, the current level of integration in the Union, the traceability mechanism for goods transported between the EAEU states and imported into the Union from third countries, as well as related to the competence of the EEC in matters of customs administration.

Following the discussion, the working group developed proposals to ensure the progressive development of trade and economic cooperation between the EAEU and Uzbekistan. In particular, it was recommended to continue holding industry consultations and seminars, as well as joint events on issues such as further harmonization in the field of customs cooperation; technical regulation; sanitary, phytosanitary and veterinary standards and regulatory systems; competition and public procurement; interaction on the participation of Uzbekistan in the Eurasian Agroexpress project; study of the possibility of participation of Uzbekistan in the EAEU project on the digitalization of freight transport; stimulation of cooperation ties and programs for deepening localization in the fields of the chemical industry, pharmaceuticals, mechanical engineering, instrumentation, electrical engineering, as well as in the field of agro-industrial cooperation.

The working group recommended that the EAEU Business Council and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan formalize cooperation and start organizing joint business missions. The discussion showed that an important step in unlocking the potential of trade and economic cooperation could be the holding of the EAEU-Uzbekistan business forum.

In December 2020, Uzbekistan was granted the status of an observer state to the EAEU. On 30 April 2021, a Memorandum was signed in Kazan on interaction between the EEC and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as the Plan of joint activities of the EEC and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2021-2023 was approved. During the visit of the Chairman of the EEC Board Mikhail Myasnikovich to Tashkent on July 12, 2022, this plan was supplemented with new areas of interaction.

The working group was established in accordance with the memorandum.

Uzbekistan is a significant foreign trade partner of the EAEU.

According to the EEC, in 2021, the trade turnover of the EAEU with this country increased by 22.9% and reached US$11.6 billion, including exports grew by 17.9% (up to US$8.5 billion), and imports - by 39.1% (up to US$3.1 billion).