Elvira Kadyrova
The two major economies of Central Asia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, intend to increase the volume of mutual trade turnover to US $10 billion over the next five years. The plans were announced on Friday, 26 November, during talks between the prime ministers of the two countries held in Kazakhstan’s Turkestan.
Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin and Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov took part in the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Bilateral Cooperation and the next Forum of Interregional Cooperation, the press service of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reports.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan account for about 70% of regional trade in Central Asia. In January-September 2021, the mutual trade neared US $ 3 billion, 28.5% up year-on-year basis.
In 2022, the trade is expected to reach US $ 5 billion.
The forum ended with the signing of 54 investment and commercial contracts worth over US $ 611.3 million in the fields of mechanical engineering, agriculture, production of construction materials, electrical products, medical devices, infrastructure development and other industries.
To date, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are very successfully developing industrial cooperation. The key sectors of the partnership are the production of automobiles, agricultural machinery, and the textile industry. /// nCa, 29 November 2021