(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, October 18. A meeting took place in Bishkek between the leadership of the Uzbek-Kyrgyz Development Fund (UKDF) and Bai-Tushum Bank, where the sides discussed expansion of economic cooperation, Trend reports via the UKDF.

UKDF Chairman Aziz Aaliev outlined the Fund's activities and highlighted its readiness to collaborate with commercial banks to finance priority projects and support entrepreneurship.

Bai-Tushum Bank Chairman Manas Zhakypov spoke about the bank's development, its stable financial position, and the adoption of modern technologies to expand client access to banking services.

The two sides confirmed their intention to strengthen partnership and develop long-term cooperation.

Founded in 2022, the priority task of the Fund's activities is to finance investment projects aimed at implementing joint ventures in the fields of agriculture and industry, as well as transport and logistics. The implementation of these projects will contribute to the development of industrial cooperation and the creation of interconnected value chains between Uzbek and Kyrgyz producers through the use of the competitive advantages of the economies of the two countries.

Bai-Tushum Bank is a leading financial institution in Kyrgyzstan that evolved from a non-profit microcredit agency to a universal bank with a full banking license. Its core business is to provide financing to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), particularly those in agricultural and trading activities, while also serving a broad range of retail clients. The bank was the first microfinance institution in Kyrgyzstan to receive a full banking license and is the first in Central Asia to have done so.

MENAFN18102025000187011040ID1110214353