On November 28, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev took part in the 15th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which was held in the city of Ashgabat.

The head of state, drawing attention to the international and regional situation, economic difficulties in the context of the ongoing pandemic, made a number of specific proposals on priority areas of cooperation.

“It is necessary to make fuller use of the significant potential of our countries, which have a huge market with a population of 500 million people. On the basis of the adopted conceptual program “Prospects of the ECO – 2025”, it is advisable to further expand trade-economic and investment ties between our countries and, most importantly, achieve more significant practical results due to this,” the President of Uzbekistan emphasized.

In this regard, the urgency of adopting an updated and comprehensive Trade Agreement within the organization was emphasized. The document should include the issues of removing trade barriers, digitalization of customs procedures, as well as the introduction of electronic commerce, which is now becoming increasingly important.

The adoption of a Joint Action Plan to increase the flow of mutual investments and strengthen their reliable protection, deepening industrial cooperation between our countries is a requirement of the times.

The necessity of developing projects of regional significance and increasing the competitiveness of our economies in the world market was noted.

As a real mechanism, Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to create a Center for Trade, Investment and Innovation within the framework of the Economic Cooperation Organization jointly with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) and place the headquarters of this Center in the city of Tashkent.

Another important area is the effective use of existing and creation of new transport corridors in the region.

The head of our state pointed out the importance of creating interregional transit hubs, developing modern transport and road infrastructure, optimizing transport and transit tariffs and providing additional discounts, simplifying conditions for international freight and passenger traffic, introducing digitalization in the transport industry.

By Sher Karimov