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In August last year, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was received on a working visit to Azerbaijan, reciprocating three visits to his country by Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev in 2022.

The meetings marked a significant development in bilateral ties, as several strategic cooperation agreements were signed that emphasized their commitment to removing barriers in trade and transport.

Aliyev's visits in 2022 had already seen the creation of a joint investment fund and nearly two dozen agreements for development of specific industrial production projects in both countries.

Mirziyoyev, during his August 2023 visit to Baku, also visited Karabakh and promised contributions to the region's restoration following three decades of Armenian military occupation. In Baku, Mirziyoyev and Aliyev established a Supreme (or High) Interstate Council between their countries, solidifying their long-term prospects of cooperation.

A memorandum for cooperation between their National Security Councils, along with a protocol allowing visa-free travel for citizens of Azerbaijan, was also signed. At the same time, a roadmap for deepening the strategic partnership was agreed.

In 2023, the two countries' bilateral trade surged by over a quarter to reach US$231.6 million. According to Azerbaijan sources, this appears to have fallen significantly on a month-by-month basis in the current year, although sources from Uzbekistan report a slight increase.

The headline goal of the bilateral Intergovernmental Commission on Cooperation is to increase this trade to $1 billion, although without a specific time horizon.

In addition to the petrochemical sector, the two sides have identified mechanical and electrical engineering, construction and construction materials, agriculture and tourism as promising areas for cooperation.

Bilateral energy cooperation has also been increasing since Azerbaijan turned toward Asia in 2021, in reaction against Western opposition to its dislodging of Armenia's three-decade occupation of one-sixth of its national territory.

Uzbekistan is rich in natural gas but needs to modernize its energy infrastructure. In 2021, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and the Uzbekstani state energy company Uzbekneftegaz signed a memorandum of understanding to explore opportunities for cooperation in the oil and gas sector, including joint ventures in exploration, production and the development of petrochemical facilities.

In June 2023, the two countries announced plans to jointly extract and export gas. Now, the parties are negotiating an agreement under which Uzbekneftegaz will join Azerbaijan's offshore Shah Deniz project with equity participation.

This initiative may also be in response to Uzbekistan's declining natural gas production, which fell by 10% in 2023 over 2022, to 46.7 billion cubic meters, as the depletion of the country's aging existing fields – already depleted by 75-80% – continued.