On March 7, Tashkent hosted a meeting of Uzbekistan – Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation.

On March 7, Tashkent hosted a meeting of Uzbekistan – Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation.

Issues of cooperation between the two countries in the economy, health, agro-industry were discussed at the meeting. Implementation of agreements reached during the state visit to Uzbekistan of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in October 2018 was also considered.

Economic cooperation of the two countries is developing at a new stage. Last year, the trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Russia grew by 20 percent and amounted to almost 6 billion USD. The trade turnover in January-February this year reached 877 million USD, and the exports volume increased by 70 percent.

At the meeting, the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Oreshkin emphasized that the two countries have tremendous opportunities for further development of mutually beneficial cooperation, both parties are interested in their full involvement.

In 2019/2020 academic year, it is planned to open a branch of Moscow State Medical University named after I.M. Sechenov in Uzbekistan, as well as medical joint faculties with a number of higher education institutions of Russia. Implementation of these projects will serve to promoting bilateral relations to a new level.

Uzbekistan and Russia are interested in long-term cooperation in agriculture.

At the meeting, views were exchanged on elimination of problems that are an obstacle to the expansion of exports of fruits and vegetables. In this regard, Russia expressed its willingness to build agricultural wholesale distribution centers on the territory of the country. It was emphasized that this would serve to increase the volume of fruits and vegetables supplied to Russia several times.