The Rt Hon Lord David Howell, Minister for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, will launch the 18th annual UBTIC meeting on 17 November in London.

Lord Howell will meet the Head of the Uzbek delegation, Mrs Galina Saidova, Minister for Economy of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the British Co-Chair of UBTIC, former Conservative MP Dr Hartley Booth will host a series of meetings with Mrs Saidova, Minister for Economy and a delegation of 16 Uzbek officials, including Mr Otabek Akbarov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to United Kingdom, Mr Madjid Karimov, Deputy Minister of Higher and Secondary Specialised Education and Mr Shavkat Majitov, First Deputy Chairman of National Holding Company ‘Uzbekneftegaz’.

UBTIC is the primary forum to discuss and promote the development of business links between the UK and Uzbekistan. The last UBTIC meeting was held on 7 December 2010 in Tashkent.

HRH Prince Michael of Kent led the UK delegation, which included 38 representatives from UK companies. However, for this year’s meeting in London, over 55 UK companies will attend, including ExxonMobil International, British American Tobacco, Rio Tinto and Tethys Petroleum.