The President of Uzbekistan, expressing gratitude to the Leader and people of Türkiye for the hospitality and warm welcome, emphasized that today’s meeting is taking place on the eve of the sacred holiday of Qurbon Hayit (Eid al-Adha) and in the year of celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“The establishment of the Strategic Cooperation Council opened a new page in the history of relations between Uzbekistan and Türkiye and gave a powerful impetus to further developing partnership in all areas”, the Head of state noted.

Political dialogue, interparliamentary relations, cultural and humanitarian exchanges, and trade, economic, and investment interaction are developing dynamically.

In recent years, trade turnover has increased by 1.5 times, the number of joint ventures has increased by 2 times, and the volume of Turkish investments in the Uzbek economy has increased by 2.5 times. There are 90 flights a week between the major cities of the two countries, and the flow of tourists from Türkiye has increased 3 times.

The goal is to increase the volume of bilateral trade turnover to five billion dollars in the shortest possible time.

Today in Uzbekistan, such leading Turkish companies as Cengiz Holding, Aksa Energy, Çalık Holding, Akay Inşaat, Anadolu Group, Özgüven, Eczacıbaşı Holding are successfully implementing more than 100 projects. A portfolio of new investment projects worth $10 billion was formed as part of this visit.

To further strengthen bilateral trade and economic cooperation, the importance of strengthening industrial cooperation, deepening the localization of production of goods with high added value, and joint entry into the markets of third countries was noted.

The need to reduce customs tariffs within the framework of the Agreement on Preferential Trade and to open a trade mission of Uzbekistan in Istanbul was also emphasized.

Attention was drawn to the demand for introducing advanced Turkish experience and public-private partnership mechanisms, enhancing interaction in agriculture and water management, digitalizing healthcare, and creating medical clusters.

Another important area of ​​cooperation is increasing the two countries’ transport and logistics potential, including through the effective use of the opportunities of the Middle Corridor.

Particular attention was paid to developing partnerships in higher, vocational, and technical education, holding theater festivals and cultural weeks, joint filming of historical films, and restoring cultural heritage sites.

The parties welcomed the adoption of the Declaration on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the creation of the Uzbekistan – Türkiye Business Council under the leadership of the two countries’ leaders.

Following the meeting, the governments were instructed to approve a joint roadmap for implementing the decisions made.

Following the talks, Shavkat Mirziyoyev invited Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to visit Uzbekistan to hold the Council’s next meeting.