Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- As part of a visit to Brazil, a delegation of Uzbekistan led by Ambassador Javlon Vakhabov held talks in Sao Paulo with the head of the Business Development and Institutional Relations Service of the Sao Paulo Investment Promotion Agency (InvestSP) Rafael Murdji, Dunyo news agency reported.

According to the Embassy of Uzbekistan, during the conversation, the Brazilian side was informed about the main results of reforms in Uzbekistan to ensure sustainable growth of the domestic economy, expand mutually beneficial relations with foreign partners, and also provided information on the investment climate of the republic and the benefits and preferences provided to foreign investors.

Rafael Murji expressed his gratitude to the Government of Uzbekistan for the ongoing efforts to intensify trade and economic relations between two countries. He stressed that, being the main state agency of the state in the trade and investment sphere, InvestSP intends to encourage the development of relations between the business circles of the largest economic region of Brazil - the state of São Paulo and Uzbekistan in every possible way.

According to the head of InvestSP, although the state occupies only 3% of the country’s territory, this region forms oone-thirdof Brazil’s GDP (over US$750 billion) and 70% of the country’s skilled workforce lives here. If Sao Paulo were a separate state, it would be the 22nd largest economy in the world. It is emphasized that 60% of the largest 100 companies in Latin America are headquartered in this state.

One of the main reasons for the attractiveness of Sao Paulo for business representatives is the developed infrastructure. It is noted that this state has three international and 27 regional airports with a passenger flow of 75 million people annually, the largest ports in South America, as well as 18 of the 20 best highways in Brazil.

In addition, added Rafael Murgi, having 4 of the top 10 universities across the continent and an annual investment of US$2.3 billion in research and development also makes the state more attractive to both Brazilian and foreign companies. It was emphasized that about 70% of the government’s total investment in research and development, an extensive network of public and private research institutes, and technology parks are concentrated in the region.

Commenting on the role of InvestSP in ensuring the sustainable growth of the state’s economy, Rafael Murgi noted that since the establishment of the organization in 2008, this agency has been able to attract about US$30 billion in direct investment, create 182,000 new jobs, establish 288 investment projects, open its own international branches in Shanghai (PRC), Dubai (UAE), Munich (Germany) and New York (USA). As a result of this comprehensive work, in 2018 InvestSP became the best investment attraction agency in the world according to the Financial Times Group.

In this context, Rafael Murji expressed his readiness to organize meetings and negotiations with the institutions of Uzbekistan to exchange experience and identify promising areas for mutually beneficial cooperation. During the negotiations, the representative of InvestSP also supported the proposal to organize a trade mission of the State of Sao Paulo to the Republic, to hold thematic meetings of representatives of individual industries of both parties, as well as to establish direct links between domestic importers of Brazilian goods and direct manufacturers to eliminate intermediary costs.

Following the meeting, an agreement was reached on organizing a visit of the Sao Paulo delegation to Uzbekistan.