Speech by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the “Central Asia – Italy” summit

(May 30, 2025, Astana city)

Dear heads of delegations!

I join in expressing gratitude to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, respected Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich Tokayev, for the excellent organization of the summit and the traditionally warm welcome.

Once again I would like to thank the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Italy, dear Mrs. Giorgia Meloni, for the initiative to hold today’s meeting.

I would like to emphasize that we are considering this event in the context of the agreements on the strategic partnership of the Central Asian region with Europe, reached at the recent summit in Samarkand.

The Uzbek side is determined to develop productive practical interaction in this format, taking into account, first of all, the technological, industrial and intellectual potential of our countries.

Dear participants summit!

I fully support the proposed agenda for our meeting.

I believe that in the modern realities of global and regional political trends, increasing common challenges to security and progress, the platform we launched for multilateral dialogue with Italy is very much in demand.

I would like to separately note that our countries are connected by a centuries-old history trade and cultural relations. The first diplomatic exchanges took place during the period of the Kushan Empire and the reign of Emperor Augustus. Thousands of years ago, chroniclers, poets and thinkers noted the high level of civilizational development of our cities.

Another fact - since the 12th century, Italian scientists studied and translated the invaluable works of Khorezmi, Fergani and Avicenna. Rare copies of the works of Farabi, Beruni, Jami, Fraga and other famous thinkers from our region are carefully preserved in Italian libraries.

I am convinced that such a rich history of relations serves as a solid basis for a full-scale partnership at a new stage.

Dear colleagues!

I would like to briefly summarize present our vision of the priorities of interaction in the “Central Asia - Italy” format.

In the political sphere, we advocate the continuation of regular contacts at the level of foreign policy departments. There are a number of pressing issues on the international agenda that require coordination and agreed approaches.

We welcome the active diplomatic efforts of the Prime Minister of Italy, dear Mrs. Meloni, to begin direct negotiations as soon as possible to resolve the situation around Ukraine.

I am grateful for your vision of the Middle East issues and prospects for interaction with Afghanistan.

Yesterday in Samarkand we discussed these sensitive issues in detail and noted the coincidence of positions.

I also propose to launch working mechanisms for multilateral partnership and exchange of information of our special services in the fight against terrorism, extremism, radicalism, drug trafficking and illegal migration.

In the economic sphere, I note that over the past few Over the years, mutual trade turnover and investments between Uzbekistan and Italy have increased almost threefold.

Technological cooperation projects with leading Italian companies are being implemented.

Taking into account the traditionally strong position of the Italian business community in the innovative development of the country, we propose to launch a permanent platform for business dialogue - the Business Club "Central Asia - Italy" under the auspices of our chambers of commerce and industry. Such meetings with the wide participation of entrepreneurs could be held annually in our capitals, opening up new opportunities for trade and investment cooperation.

We also consider it important to develop and adopt a comprehensive multilateral Industrial and Technological Cooperation Program. We are talking about creating favorable conditions for technology transfer, introducing advanced knowledge and best practices, creating high-tech industrial production.

Taking into account the existing successful experience, priority areas of cooperation could be deep processing of mineral resources and agricultural raw materials, production of modern equipment for electrical, chemical, textile, leather, food and other processing industries, localization of the component base and industrial goods, the creation of design centers with leading Italian brands.

To implement projects of regional importance, we began to create a special industrial park in the Tashkent region under the management of a European operator.

We believe it is necessary to attract Italian state agencies “SACE” and “SIMEST”, as well as joint investment funds, to support cooperation projects.

We highly value the fruitful cooperation with the Italian government in the field of green transformation. We look forward to developing a full-scale partnership by launching a multilateral platform designed to facilitate the implementation of national decarbonization programs.

We are ready, with the involvement of leading manufacturers and engineering companies in Italy, to implement projects in the field of renewable energy, including the supply of “green” energy to the EU countries, auditing and improving the energy efficiency of enterprises, modernizing water infrastructure, and developing hydrogen technologies.

In the humanitarian sphere, I would like to especially note the fruitful activities of the branches of the Turin Polytechnic and Pisa Universities in Tashkent, which have significantly expanded their educational programs. I welcome the growing interest in our region from other leading Italian universities.

We are taking the initiative to create a scientific and educational Consortium "Central Asia - Italy" to conduct and finance scientific developments, academic exchange programs and training in areas such as engineering, design, water-saving and biotechnologies.

We are interested in launching a tourism alliance to establish partnerships between leading operators and create joint tourism products.

It should be noted that the exhibitions and cultural events recently held in Rome and Florence aroused keen interest among our Italian friends.

In this regard, I propose to hold a Youth Forum of Creative Economy and Cultural Exchange between the countries of the region and Italy next year in Khiva.

Dear heads of delegations!

In conclusion of my speech, I would like to once again confirm Uzbekistan’s commitment to the further development of mutually beneficial and multifaceted cooperation in the “Central Asia - Italy” format.

Official website President of the Republic of Uzbekistan