Belarus and Uzbekistan increased trade turnover by more than 13 times in 10 years

Over the past ten years, the volume of mutual trade in goods between Belarus and Uzbekistan has increased more than 13-fold, and trade in services has increased more than 30-fold.

This was stated by the Minister of Economy of Belarus Yuri Chebotar during the roundtable discussion “Belarus and Uzbekistan: new avenues for cooperation”, BelTA reports.

According to him, Belarus is interested in implementing new joint investment projects with Uzbekistan and is ready to expand economic cooperation. Today, Uzbekistan ranks third among the CIS countries in mutual trade with Belarus in both goods and services, and second in accumulated Belarusian investments.

The Minister of Economy outlined several priority areas for further cooperation. These include the development of industrial partnerships, the implementation of joint production projects with technology transfer and the creation of modern jobs.

According to him, special attention is being paid to digital transformation. Belarus is ready to share its experience in IT development, including through cooperation with the Hi-Tech Park, which can contribute to the development of IT parks and Uzbekistan’s digital economy.

He also highlighted investments in the service industry and tourism. “In the current five years, we aim to double the contribution of tourism to GDP, and Uzbekistan faces similar challenges. This area has great potential for cooperation and mutually beneficial growth in both services and joint investment projects”, said Yuri Chebotar.

Another reserve for strengthening cooperation is the implementation of the service and investment agreement within the CIS. “We expect that the launch of the agreement will provide a synergistic effect in addition to the current regime of free trade in goods between our countries”, concluded Yuri Chebotar.

Aziza Alimova, UzA