At the conference “Uzbekistan – Germany: New horizons of cooperation”, organized by the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISRS), the International Institute for Central Asia and the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Central Asia, the participants exchanged views on the results of cooperation between Uzbekistan and Germany.

It was noted that over the past three decades, relations between the countries have acquired a trusting character and practical orientation. Thanks to ongoing political reforms and an open, good-neighborly foreign policy of Uzbekistan, relations between the two countries have entered the trajectory of progressive growth. In many ways, this is facilitated by the intensification of political contacts at the highest and high levels.

As ISRS First Deputy Director A. Nematov noted, Germany is one of the leading trade and investment partners of Uzbekistan. Thanks to joint efforts, for the first time in 30 years, the trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Germany exceeded one billion dollars.

Uzbekistan is discovering a vast German market. In 2022, the export of Uzbek goods for the first time showed record results – $88.9 million. Mr. Nematov noted that the agreements reached at the seventh meeting of the Uzbekistan – Germany Business Council in February-March 2023 in Berlin will increase this figure four times.

Uzbekistan and Germany adhere to common or similar approaches on issues of the global and regional agenda, in particular on the fight against terrorism and extremism, drug trafficking, climate change, and regional security.

Berlin, fully supporting the policy of good neighborliness of Uzbekistan in the region, initiated the renewal of the EU Strategy for Central Asia in 2019 and the new EU’s Global Gateway strategy.

Organizers of the event noted that holding such an important conference on the eve of the visit of the President of Uzbekistan to Germany will allow for discussing many pressing issues on the agenda. The proposals and recommendations developed will be in demand and will form the basis for further developing bilateral agreements between the two countries.

UzA