Uzbekistan continues to develop its partnership with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) as an observer and expresses its commitment to further cooperation, President of the country Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on Friday during a meeting of the EEU's Supreme Eurasian Economic Council via video link.
"Uzbekistan continues to develop partnership relations with the Eurasian Economic Union as an observer. This is a very important direction for us, as EEU countries are our natural partners," Mirziyoyev said.
"I would like to reaffirm Uzbekistan's commitment to the progressive development of mutually beneficial cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union. I am confident that the results of today's meeting will contribute to further strengthening of multifaceted partnership, sustainable economic development in the EEU countries and the growth of prosperity in our countries," he stressed.
Mirziyoyev urged the EEU countries to remove technical barriers to market access. "Today, as never before, the task of forming favorable conditions for enhancing trade and economic cooperation, further eliminating technical barriers and the recognition of certification in mutual trade between Uzbekistan and the EEU countries is acute," he said.
He added that the changes and crises occurring in the world have become a serious challenge to stability, and called on the community countries to work out a set of measures to counteract them together. "The era of globalization is moving into the phase of forming a new world order. We are witnessing the introduction of restrictive measures of an unprecedented scale, the disruption of logistical chains and cooperation links, the rise in prices for raw materials and foodstuffs and the exacerbation of social tensions. We believe that in this situation it is important to elaborate with joint efforts a complex of joint actions, find unordinary solutions and use non-standard mechanisms of our interaction," the leader of Uzbekistan stressed.
Attracting manpower
The president of Uzbekistan suggested that the EEU should simplify procedures for attracting labor force. "The urgency of issues related to labor migration and attraction of specialists in our countries is increasing," the leader of Uzbekistan said on Friday at an online meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council. "I suggest adopting the necessary documents and introducing simplified procedures that will ensure the effective attraction of labor resources in accordance with the rapidly changing needs of the economies of EEU member and observer countries," he said.
Construction of the railroad
Mirziyoyev said that Uzbekistan will soon start building a railroad with Kyrgyzstan and the PRC. "In the near future, we plan to start practical implementation of the project to build the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railroad," he said.
According to the him, this project will create additional opportunities to enter the markets of the Asia-Pacific region.
The planned railway will connect these countries with Europe via Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.
Uzbekistan is also ready to cooperate with the EEU on the Trans-Afghan railroad project. "We are ready to cooperate with EEU partners in implementing the Trans-Afghan railroad project from Permez to Pakistan's Peshawar, which will provide the shortest access to South Asia with a market of two billion consumers," he said.
Uzbekistan's president called for the full resumption of communications with EEU countries. "It is also important to work on the issue of resuming in full the passenger transport connection between our countries," he said.
Mirziyoyev also proposed holding a tourism development forum in Uzbekistan in the fall.
"With the consequences of the pandemic overcome, the tourism sector can become a natural driver of economic development," he said. According to the president, since the beginning of the year, there has been a marked increase in the inflow of tourists to Uzbekistan, especially from the EEU countries.
Cooperation in agriculture
The president of Uzbekistan proposed to develop a program of cooperation in the agricultural sector of the EEU.
"We propose to develop a program of agricultural cooperation. This program could cover the issues of joint cultivation of grain and oilseed crops in the EEU countries, as well as fruit and vegetable products, including early varieties in Uzbekistan, in order to guarantee the saturation of our markets," he said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS