Director of the International Institute for Central Asia Javlon Vakhobov met with the Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan Musa Djamanbayev.

At the meeting, the parties discussed the high dynamics of the development of bilateral relations and the prospects for multilateral interaction between the two countries. An increase in political contacts at the highest level was noted. Thus, in 2023, the Presidents of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov held 15 meetings at bilateral and multilateral platforms.

There has been an active growth in trade and economic interaction. Thus, in January-December last year, mutual trade between states approached $1 billion, which is five times higher than in 2016.

The Ambassador also highlighted the introduction of a new procedure for crossing the border using ID cards. “Thanks to this mechanism, in 2023, about 4 million citizens of Uzbekistan visited Kyrgyzstan. In turn, approximately 2 million Kyrgyzstan citizens visited Uzbekistan, and pilgrimage tourism is gaining popularity”, the diplomat said.

The parties discussed prospects for cooperation between the two countries’ think tanks and spoke in favor of further increasing cooperation in this direction.

G. Khonnazarov, UzA