Outcomes of meetings and negotiations in Ankara open a new chapter in the Economic Diplomacy of Uzbekistan

Professor Komil Rashidov, Head of the Sector of Legislation in the Economic Sphere at the Institute of Legislation and Legal Policy under the President of Uzbekistan, commented for the Dunyo IA on the outcomes of the working visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Türkiye and his participation in the Organization of Turkic States Summit:

  – Consistent implementation of New Uzbekistan’s foreign policy, alongside the regular and effective conduct of bilateral and multilateral negotiations in political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian spheres based on the interests of the people and the state, aligns with the constitutional foundations of foreign policy.

Operating on the principle of “objective—action—result”, economic diplomacy of New Uzbekistan is filled with concrete substance, including at high-level multilateral diplomacy platforms, aimed at expanding mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation.

Thus, within the framework of the working visit of the President of Uzbekistan to Türkiye on October 29–30th to participate in the 13th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Ankara, high-level bilateral meetings were also held, during which issues of further strengthening the Uzbek-Turkish comprehensive strategic partnership relations, particularly in political-diplomatic, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian spheres, were discussed.

Following the negotiations, Leaders of Uzbekistan and Türkiye signed an Agreement on the Establishment of the High-Level Business Support Council. A number of bilateral documents were also signed aimed at further expanding trade and economic cooperation, creating favorable conditions for business circles and providing them with legal assistance, as well as ensuring the effective protection of citizens' social rights.

It should be noted that the established High-Level Business Support Council is a new format for supporting comprehensive trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. Its activities are aimed at providing large-scale support to entrepreneurs, promptly eliminating barriers, and elevating the bilateral trade and economic partnership to a qualitatively new level.

New Council and the existing Joint Intergovernmental Commission will collectively address the task set by the heads of state to bring trade turnover to $5 billion, including through expanding the product list within the Framework Agreement on Preferential Trade and broadening the portfolio of promising projects.

These economic interaction structures, including Uzbek-Turkish Business Council, will serve as powerful tools within the activities of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council led by the heads of both states.

Meetings of the head of our state in Ankara with representatives of leading Turkish companies, during which promising avenues for investment cooperation were reviewed, testify to the business community's trust in the reforms implemented in the country:

Additional investment projects to modernize the “SamAvto” enterprise in Samarkand, expand its production capacities and increase product export volumes were discussed with “Anadolu Group”;

“Evyap Holding” expressed readiness to further expand mutually beneficial cooperation in the manufacturing of personal hygiene products and cosmetics, and to implement a new project launched in the Uzbek-Turkish industrial zone “OSTIM Global”;

Issues concerning the further expansion of projects in renewable energy, geology and the mining industry, infrastructure, establishment of an electric vehicle charging station network, as well as the food industry were discussed jointly with “Eksim Holding”;

“OYAK” expressed interest in implementing joint investment projects in the chemical industry, geology, and construction in New Uzbekistan, as well as readiness to actively participate in the construction of residential complexes and external infrastructure facilities in New Tashkent.

Comprehensive strategic partnership between the two states, Constitution, legislation on foreign economic and investment activities and the provisions of the Agreement on the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments with Türkiye serve as the legal foundation for implementing the agreements reached in Ankara with leading Turkish business circles.

Following these meetings, Head of our State emphasized the significant role and contribution of business circles to the consistently developing strategic partnership relations of our country with Türkiye.

Continuation of practical cooperation in economic diplomacy across new avenues was also proposed within the multilateral format.

Thus, in his address at the 13th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, Head of Uzbekistan put forward a proposal to adopt the “Turkic World – 100” Program, encompassing one hundred strategic joint investment and industrial projects, including the processing of rare minerals and the localization of manufacturing equipment for green energy. Attention was focused on the importance of attracting resources from the Turkic Investment Fund, which also accumulates the financial assets of Uzbekistan and international financial institutions for the implementation of these projects.

Other important initiatives of the Uzbek side include proposals:

• on the development of a multilateral Treaty “On Mutual Legal Assistance in Commercial Matters”, which is essential for protecting the interests of entrepreneurs, as well as the creation of a digital platform designated for the electronic exchange of legal assistance requests and documents;

• on the establishment of the “Network of Logistics Centers of the Turkic States” and ensuring its joint management, which will allow expanding the participation of the organization's member states in international freight transportation and logistics, as well as increasing economic integration;

• on the creation of the “Turkic Tourism Alliance” to expand tourism potential, as well as the development of a multilateral agreement providing for the simplification of mutual travel of citizens and the expansion of opportunities for travel using ID cards.

Historical significance of the high-level negotiations held, the signed bilateral and multilateral documents, and the business meetings within the framework of the working visit to Türkiye open a new chapter in our country's economic diplomacy. They create the necessary conditions for filling the Uzbek-Turkish mutually beneficial trade, economic and investment interaction with concrete achievements, as well as for further expanding multifaceted cooperation among the member states of the Organization of Turkic States for the sake of Turkic solidarity.

Dunyo IA

Tashkent