Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Minister of Investments, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov held talks with India’s Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman ahead of the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Samarkand.

During the meeting, the current state and prospects for enhancing trade, economic, and investment partnership between the two countries were discussed.

Over the past five years, mutual trade volume has doubled, reaching US$756 million by the end of 2023, with a 30% increase observed since the beginning of the year.

The number of joint ventures has nearly increased 2.5 times since 2019, totaling 317, with 51 opened since the start of the current year.

The parties agreed on a number of measures to expedite obtaining phytosanitary permits for six additional types of agricultural products from Uzbekistan and to attract preferential loans from the Indian Export-Import Bank for financing social projects.

The discussion also covered the prospects for attracting large Indian companies in the fields of information technology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, light industry, and education.

As a result of the meeting, the parties agreed on the timeline for the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Joint Commission, where a "Joint Program" covering all discussed projects and initiatives is expected to be signed.