Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Now Uzbekistan and Russia face one common ambitious task: to double the volume of mutual trade by 2030. This was stated by Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov following a business breakfast with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khojaev.

As part of the meeting of the Council of Regions of Uzbekistan and Russia, a business breakfast was held in Tashkent, in which representatives of both countries took part.

Maxim Reshetnikov noted that the high pace of cooperation between Russia and Uzbekistan is determined by the heads of both states. Interest in the development of bilateral ties and joint projects is maintained at the level of governments, regions and businesses, he added.

In his opinion, this format of cooperation at all levels allows authorities to quickly respond to requests from the business community of both countries and jointly find the necessary solutions.

Russia and Uzbekistan have created a solid basis for cooperation: good growth rates in exports, imports and investments.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, mutual trade in 2023 increased by 11%, amounting to 823 billion rubles. In the first quarter of 2024, trade turnover increased by 20% - to 230 billion rubles. In 2023, Russian companies invested more than $13.5 billion in the economy of Uzbekistan.

At the moment, 115 joint projects are being implemented in Uzbekistan for a total amount of 3.2 trillion rubles; there are more than 3 thousand companies with Russian participation, which is 1/5 of all foreign companies in the republic.

“Now we have one common ambitious goal: to double the volume of mutual trade by 2030, as set by the Presidents of Russia and Uzbekistan. We have already begun to implement it,” noted Maxim Reshetnikov.

The Russian minister said that a Russian-Uzbek working group has been created to double trade. It included deputy ministers of relevant departments.

Reshetnikov added that Uzbekistan and Russia are expanding the North-South transport infrastructure. The parties are also developing interbank cooperation so that businesses have the opportunity to make payments in both countries.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khojaev noted that the parties should pay special attention to holding regular events to establish contacts between the business communities of Uzbekistan and Russia.

“I am confident that the mutual focus on deepening trusting and constructive relations between our states will enrich the bilateral dialogue with new examples of fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation,” Khodjaev said.

During the business breakfast, entrepreneurs asked pressing questions and presented their projects, which in the future will be considered by members of the intergovernmental commission, Russian-Uzbek and Uzbek-Russian business councils.