Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who is visiting Uzbekistan, will hold talks with his Uzbek counterpart Abdulla Aripov on Friday and take part in a business forum of the two countries.
The heads of the Russian and Uzbek cabinets will start their working day with a visit to the national industry exhibition - "Made in Uzbekistan." The exposition is expected to showcase production and export potential of Uzbekistan. It includes products of pharmaceutical, chemical, textile, leather and footwear, electrical, furniture, jewelry industries and agricultural sector of the republic.
Then Mishustin and Aripov are expected to attend the Russia-Uzbekistan Business Forum and speak at the plenary session. Representatives of business circles and regions of the two countries will discuss the development of cooperation in trade, transport, industry and logistics on December 1 and 2.
The prime ministers of Russia and Uzbekistan are also expected to hold talks and a meeting of a joint commission at the level of heads of governments. This mechanism of interaction between Moscow and Tashkent was established in 2018 at the initiative of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and two meetings were held in 2019 and 2021. The current meeting is to discuss topical issues of the development of Russia-Uzbekistan cooperation, with a special focus on deepening cooperation in trade and economic, industrial, energy, investment and cultural and humanitarian spheres. The Russian governmental body said that the forum will be organized under the aegis of the Council of Ministers and the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. It is also planned to discuss preparations for the III Forum of interregional cooperation between Russia and Uzbekistan.
On the eve of Mishustin's visit to Samarkand, President Putin had a telephone conversation with Mirziyoyev to discuss cooperation in the economy, including "promising joint projects." As reported by the Kremlin press service, these topics will be discussed in detail at a meeting of the joint commission at the level of heads of governments of the two countries in Samarkand.
One of these promising projects may be the idea of a gas union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. On November 28, Putin held talks in Moscow with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to discuss the creation of a "triple gas union" with Uzbekistan. A spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, explained that the first stage involved the creation of a coordination mechanism initiated by Putin. Later it became known that it was a question of cooperation in the processing and supply of gas, including in new export destinations.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Federation Council
Based on materials from TASS