Obid Khakimov: Uzbekistan’s initiatives will intensify cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited Azerbaijan on July 2-4 on a state visit, during which the second meeting of the Supreme Interstate Council.

On July 4, the leader of our country took part in the 17th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), outlining the priorities of its development in difficult conditions of geopolitical instability.

Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan are members of the Economic Cooperation Organization. Therefore, the combination of the state visit of the leader of our country to Azerbaijan and participation in the ECO summit made it possible to synchronize watches and clarify the priorities for further interaction not only with the union Azerbaijan, but also with numerous partners of Uzbekistan in the region.

In recent years, trade, economic and investment cooperation between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan has demonstrated dynamic development, reflecting a strategic nature bilateral relations.

Over the past eight years, there has been an impressive growth in trade turnover - 7.8 times, to $253 million in 2024. Uzbekistan’s exports to Azerbaijan increased 7.5 times and amounted to $208 million, and imports increased ninefold (45 million in 2024).

Investment cooperation is also actively developing, joint projects are being implemented in industry, agriculture, energy and pharmaceuticals. If in 2017 $142 thousand were attracted from Azerbaijan to Uzbekistan, then in 2024 - $79.5 million. There is an Azerbaijani-Uzbek investment company with an authorized capital of $500 million. In our country, the number of enterprises with capital from Azerbaijan increased from 178 (2019) to 278 at the end of April 2025.

In turn, industrial cooperation projects for the assembly of Uzbek cars and the opening of sericulture and textile clusters have been implemented in Azerbaijan with the participation of Uzbek capital. In the city of Hajigabul, a production line was launched by UzAuto Motors JSC and SamAvto LLC JV, which operates on the basis of the Azermash SR plant.

Cooperation is also actively developing in the agricultural sector.

The dynamic development of economic interaction is facilitated by a new research model tested last year. It was formed as part of the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan to organize a forum of think tanks to conduct research aimed at expanding the trade potential of the Turkic states. As part of the interaction between the Center for Economic Research and Reforms under the Administration of the President of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijani think tanks, specific proposals for cooperation have been developed, 33 of which were approved by the relevant order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan and are being implemented.

On the eve of the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan, the first Interparliamentary Forum was held in Khiva, and the Forum was held in Baku regions. Recently, the first Forum of Rectors was organized in Andijan. In Uzbekistan, active preparations are underway for projects to create the Azerbaijan Park and the unique Sea Breeze tourist complex. During the visit, the construction of the Uzbekistan park in Baku was launched and a new building of the Embassy of our country in Azerbaijan was opened.

The head of our state especially noted that this event takes place in the year of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

During the negotiations, agreements were reached to take joint measures to increase the volume of bilateral trade and investment to a billion dollars in the coming years. A separate Program for promoting trade and cooperation has been adopted. To increase the efficiency of bilateral interaction, the activities of the joint investment company will be expanded, new formats will be organized - the Council of Entrepreneurs and the Forum of Industrial and Economic Zones.

Particular attention is paid to strengthening transport connectivity. The volume of Uzbek cargo transportation increased by a quarter. Their annual volume exceeds a million tons. An agreement was also reached to accelerate the preparation of a joint project for the export of electricity to Europe.

However, the potential of trade, economic and investment cooperation between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan has not yet been realized, and the agreements reached open up new prospects for further expansion of interaction.

The joint production of products that are in demand in the markets of our republics, to this day, has significant prospects imported from third countries.

Great potential is represented by combining efforts in areas where both parties have comparative advantages (winemaking, pomegranate growing, industrial processing of agricultural products). In addition, cooperation and joint entry into third-country markets with agricultural products will strengthen competitive advantages and conquer new niches.

The agreements reached during the state visit will contribute to deeper cooperation in industry, the agricultural sector, digital technologies and logistics.

The 17th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization was held in the Azerbaijani city of Khankendi under the motto “A New ECO Vision for a Reliable and Climate-Resilient Future” and concluded the ECO Week in the Karabakh region.

At the 16th ECO Summit (Tashkent, November 2023) to improve the situation in trade relations and more fully utilizing the existing potential for interaction in the organization, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed developing a conceptual document “Strategic Goals of Economic Cooperation - 2035”. It noted the importance of adopting the ECO Trade Facilitation Agreement in order to eliminate technical and non-tariff barriers; digitalization of customs, phytosanitary and veterinary procedures; at least doubling the volume of mutual trade by 2035 through the development of electronic commerce in the organization’s space.

In 1996, Uzbekistan signed bilateral free trade agreements with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Preferential trade agreements were concluded with Pakistan, Turkey and Iran in 2023, and with Afghanistan in 2024.

In 2017-2024, the volume of Uzbekistan’s trade turnover with the ECO countries increased 2.3 times (from 5.3 billion to 12.2 billion dollars), exports - 1.7 times (from 3.3 billion to 5.6 billion dollars), imports - 3.3 times (from 2 billion to 6.6 billion).

At the same time, trade indicators with ECO countries relative to the dynamics of Uzbekistan’s trade with other countries gradually decreased. Thus, over the same period, the share of ECO countries in Uzbekistan’s foreign trade decreased from 19.9 percent to 18.5, in exports it decreased from 26.2 to 20.7, and in imports, on the contrary, it increased from 14.3 percent to 17.

In 2024, the volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) and loans attracted to Uzbekistan from ECO countries amounted to $2.7 billion, which is several times more compared to 2017 (9.6 million) and 2018 (33.1 million). The largest portion of these funds came from Turkey - 1.8 billion dollars (68.6%), Kazakhstan - 358.5 million (13.3%) and Iran - 161.5 million (6%). The rest of the amount came from Azerbaijan - 79.5 million (3%), Afghanistan - 72.9 million (2.7%) and Kyrgyzstan - 60.4 million (2.2%).

In Uzbekistan, joint ventures with the participation of capital from ECO countries are successfully operating in the field of light and food industries, electrical engineering, processing of agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, construction, energy, production of building materials, as well as in the provision of services (banking, shipping and logistics, medicine, retail trade, hotel industry and others).

The number of operating enterprises with investments from ECO countries as of May 1, 2025 is 5275, or 33 percent of the total number of joint ventures with foreign investment. In terms of countries, the largest number with Turkish capital: 1964 (37.2 percent).

In his speech at the summit in Khankendi, the President of Uzbekistan, assessing the work carried out on the development of the ECO over the past two years, emphasized: following the results of the historic summit in Tashkent, significant progress has been achieved in strengthening the institutional potential and establishing new areas of cooperation of this organization.

Assessing trade relations in the organization, the head of our state drew attention to the fact that currently mutual trade between our countries remains at a low level. In 2024, its figure amounted to $95 billion, or 10 percent of the total foreign trade turnover of our states.

In this regard, the issues of simplifying trade in goods and services are relevant for the ECO; gradual elimination of technical and non-tariff barriers; development of e-commerce.

The President of our country proposed holding a meeting of ECO trade ministers in Tashkent this year and advocated the creation of a system of green corridors for the rapid exchange of information on trade in agricultural products and their unhindered supply.

The need to adopt the concept “Strategic Goals of Economic Partnership - 2035” was also indicated, in which special attention should be paid attention to strengthening cooperation in the areas of innovation, artificial intelligence and digital technologies.

To bring investment cooperation within the organization to a new level and create a more transparent and attractive investment environment, the head of Uzbekistan took the initiative to adopt the long-term Ecoinvest program, the main goal of which should be the widespread involvement of private investors, banks and international financial institutions in promising projects in the region.

The head of our state also proposed accelerating the creation of the Digital Transport and Customs Department in order to establish systematic work on the digitalization of the transport and logistics sector. The opening of new air routes in the region and the development of integrated marketing strategies between the spheres of tourism and aviation are indicated as urgent tasks. It is proposed to hold a forum of national airlines in Samarkand.

In the field of climate, the country’s leader initiated the development within the organization of a transboundary “green program” to create forests and recreational areas in desert areas. And as part of improving the activities of the ECO, it was proposed to develop before the next summit specific proposals and recommendations for reforming the work of the organization.

Following the summit, the ECO leaders expressed their readiness to intensify regional cooperation, especially in the areas of trade, transport and digital connectivity and green transformation, which is consistently promoted by Uzbekistan not only within the ECO, but also in other formats of integration interaction. The importance of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the importance of deepening interaction in tourism, energy, science, education and cultural exchange as key areas within the ECO were also emphasized.

We also note the formation of the concept of “Strategic Goals of Economic Cooperation - 2035”, taking into account the opinions expressed at the forums of the ECO Week in Karabakh. This initiative was put forward at the Tashkent ECO summit and was consistently promoted by the President of Uzbekistan as a primary factor in strengthening the economic interconnectedness of the ECO and the formation of regional value chains.

In the current difficult conditions, when the international community is experiencing an acute crisis, and most conflicts and contradictions occur in the ECO region, the President of Uzbekistan at the beginning of his speech at the summit emphasized that the basis peace and development is primarily economic cooperation. Therefore, partnership within the framework of the ECO today is of great strategic importance.

IA "Dunyo"