(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 17. A delegation from Uzbekistan, led by First Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance Ilkhom Norkulov, held a meeting with Belarusian Minister of Industry Andrey Kuznetsov to discuss prospects for implementing joint cooperative projects in the mechanical engineering sector, Trend reports.

The meeting was also attended by Belarusian Deputy Ministers of Industry Leonid Ryzhkovsky and Denis Bakey, as well as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to Belarus and Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the statutory and other bodies of the CIS, Rakhmatulla Nazarov.

The Belarusian side highlighted the significant potential for bilateral cooperation and expressed interest in expanding engagement with Uzbek partners. Priority areas identified included the development of industrial cooperation in agricultural machinery, the supply of engines and mining equipment, and collaboration in machine-tool manufacturing.

Both sides put their heads together to stress the need for tightening the production belt, embracing cutting-edge technologies, and casting their nets into new markets together. They confirmed their mutual commitment to intensifying cooperation and creating conditions for sustainable growth in production and the export of competitive Belarusian-Uzbek products.

In the interim, by the conclusion of 2024, the bilateral trade volume between Uzbekistan and Belarus reached a substantial $620.1 million, reflecting a notable 14.8 percent uptick relative to the preceding year, 2023. By the year 2025, both nations are strategically positioning themselves to elevate their bilateral trade metrics to the benchmark of $1 billion.

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