In an exclusive interview with Al Shabiba daily, the Uzbek minister for foreign economic relations, investment and trade, Elyor Ganiev said: “We all appreciate the royal grant of His Majesty the Sultan and we are looking forward that the trade relations between Uzbekistan and the Sultanate will flourish in the coming period. The expected visit of the Uzbek president to the Sultanate will also open new horizons in the relations between the two countries especially in the investment and trade fields.”

The Uzbek minister described the recent visit of Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, minister of national economy and deputy chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council; and his delegation to Uzbekistan, as historic and the first step in strengthening the economic and trade relations between the two nations.

He also noted that Macki and his delegation visited a number of historical institutions, factories and business firms and this gave them an opportunity to get familiarised with expertise and modern technology of Uzbekistan.

On the investment opportunity, the Uzbek minister said: Uzbekistan is marked by its economic development and its political stability. We held discussions with Macki and his delegation on various trade and investment opportunities in Uzbekistan especially in chemical fertilisers and chemical industries and investment in hotels and tourism sectors.

The Uzbek minister also mentioned the friendly legislations existing between the two countries, which would allow more raw materials and manpower to the new investment projects.

The Uzbek minister pointed out his country’s good economic relations with the AGCC states such as the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain and many joint investment projects, already in operation in those countries.

He also ruled out some propaganda that the current financial crisis would affect the joint future plans and projects in his country, pointing out that prices of commodities and materials had started coming down.

He concluded by hoping that Uzbekistan and the Sultanate would succeed in implementing joint projects in various fields in future.