(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 27. The dynamic
progress achieved in cooperation between Central Asia and
Azerbaijan is ongoing. The attention President Ilham Aliyev pays to
a partnership with the each of Central Asian economies has led to
strengthening crucial links between the two major regions on the
global map.
Over the recent years, relations between Uzbekistan and
Azerbaijan have reached a qualitatively new stage of development,
gaining 'strategic depth'. New prospects for mutually beneficial
cooperation are opening up. The basis for this is a large-scale
contractual and legal framework, comprising over 130 interstate,
intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements.
President Ilham Aliyev visited Uzbekistan three times just over
the last year - on June 21-22, with a state visit, on September
15-16, to take part in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization member countries in Samarkand as an honored guest. The
third visit took place on November 10-11 on the occasion of the
Summit of the Organization of Turkic States.
During President Ilham Aliyev's visit in June 2022, a number of
important documents defining the further development of relations
between the two countries were signed. Among them is the
Declaration on Deepening Strategic Partnership and Increasing
Comprehensive Cooperation, which opens a new stage in bilateral
relations. This document identifies the most important fields, such
as the expansion of trade and industrial cooperation. In addition
to transport and logistics cooperation, the parties agreed on the
joint development of the agricultural sector. Cooperation in the
military and military-political sphere will also be one of the
priorities.
Meanwhile, the First Uzbek-Azerbaijani Interregional Forum was
held in Tashkent on February 25, with the support of the Ministry
of Investments, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan and the Ministry
of Economy of Azerbaijan.
Within the framework of the forum, the sides signed an
intergovernmental agreement on the establishment of a $500 million
joint investment fund, which will play a significant role in
economic cooperation, the implementation of new joint investment
projects, and the creation of new job places.
A number of significant documents were signed during the forum.
A roadmap for 2023-2025 to expand practical cooperation in trade,
economic, scientific, technical, cultural, and humanitarian spheres
was signed between the Tashkent Executive Power and the Baku
Executive Power Baku. Moreover, Azerbaijan's Export and Investment
Promotion Agency (AZPROMO) and the Agency for Regulation of the
Alcohol and Tobacco Market and the Development of Winemaking of
Uzbekistan have signed an MoU.
Besides, Azerbaijan's Small and Medium Business Development
Agency (SMBDA) has signed an MoU with Uzbek Economy Ministry on
joint development of small and medium-sized businesses, women's
entrepreneurship, public-private partnerships, experience exchange
and many more.
The signed documents also include an MoU and cooperation
agreement between AzerGold CJSC and the Ministry of Mining and
Geology of Uzbekistan, a memorandum of cooperation between Mega
Invest Industrial and NABUCCO A&C companies, as well as a
cooperation agreement between Cahan Industrial Complex LLC and
Azimut Plus company.
Moreover, over recent years, the automotive industry has become
one of the main pillars of the Azerbaijani-Uzbek partnership. On
September 17, 2021, Uzbek UzAuto Motors, together with the
Azerbaijani Azermash automobile manufacturing plant, launched
large-node assembly production of Chevrolet cars in the Hajigabul
district of Azerbaijan. Currently, about 2,700 units of Chevrolet
cars have been produced at the plant.
In 2023, the sides set a goal to increase production to 5,000
cars by switching from large-node assembly production to a full
production cycle. In addition, UzAuto Motors launched the
production of new models of Chevrolet Onix cars in 2023. The
automaker plans to release more than 50,000 units of this model in
2023. By the end of March, Uzbekistan plans to launch the
production of Chevrolet Onix cars at the Azermash plant.
Given Azerbaijan's location at the crossroads of Europe and
Asia, Uzbekistan considers the country a 'gateway to the European
market'. In 2022, Uzbekistan sent its first container block train
to Europe via Azerbaijan via the CASCA+ multimodal transport route.
A block train consisting of 91 containers of 20 feet each, with
copper concentrate, was transported from Baku to the Bulgarian port
of Burgas. The container train plied the route with a total length
of more than four thousand kilometers 'Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan -
Azerbaijan - Georgia - Bulgaria/Europe'. At the end of 2022, the
expansion of cooperation between dry ports operating in Uzbekistan
and the Baku Port was discussed.
Meanwhile, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan
in 2022 amounted to $181.9 million. Exports from Uzbekistan to
Azerbaijan over the past year amounted to $132.3 million, while
imports accounted for $49.5 million. In January 2023 alone, the
trade turnover between the two countries exceeded $11 million. At
the same time, the sides are aimed at boosting the bilateral trade
to over $1 billion over the next five years.
The number of joint ventures has quadrupled in recent years.
There are 238 enterprises with Azerbaijani capital operating in
Uzbekistan, engaged in trade, mechanical engineering and
metalworking, finance and insurance, real estate transactions,
energy, services, jewelry production and repair, food industry,
light industry and pharmaceuticals. In turn, 53 Uzbek companies are
operating in Azerbaijan, with the participation of which numerous
projects are being implemented.
Uzbekistan also has not stayed aside from the reconstruction
works in Karabakh, liberated from Armenian occupation back in 2020.
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, speaking at an informal
summit of the Turkic Council in March 2021, said that Uzbekistan is
ready to participate in the reconstruction works in the liberated
lands, mainly, in the restoration of ancient monuments, mosques,
cultural and educational facilities. The country is currently
engaged in the construction of a brand-new 960-seat school in the
Fuzuli district, which is expected to be commissioned this
year.
The cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan within the
Organization of Turkic States is worth attention. The summit of the
organization held in Samarkand on November 11, 2022, with the
participation of President Ilham Aliyev became the starting point
for a new stage of interaction between the countries of the Turkic
world. This is, basically, a transition from cooperation to
integration.
The far-sighted policy of President Ilham Aliyev became the
decisive factor that led to the organization's establishment, and
this structure is now considered one of the most effective
platforms allowing it to solve tasks vital for its member
countries.
Similar priorities provide a solid foundation for building
long-term sustainable cooperation in strategic directions. In this
regard, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, which play an important leading
role in their regions - Central Asia and the South Caucasus, can
and should become the locomotives of interregional cooperation. In
this context, President Ilham Aliyev's efforts to establish
long-term peace, security, and stability in the region are of the
most importance. The restoration works launched by Azerbaijan in
the liberated lands, including with the participation of the Uzbek
side, will lead to opening up new transportation links, turning the
region into a place of mutually beneficial cooperation, and
creating new prospects for strengthening interregional ties.