Opening the event, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov noted that the decision to organize the current forum in Samarkand testifies to the increasing geopolitical importance of Central Asia and, in particular, the city of Samarkand as a new "hub" of interregional relations.

It was emphasized that Uzbekistan is interested in expanding and deepening mutually beneficial relations with the European Union, and fully supports the EU Strategy for Central Asia from 2019. In this context, the importance of adopting a joint roadmap to accelerate the implementation of the Strategy was noted.

The conviction was expressed that the Samarkand ministerial meeting will make it possible to develop a new agenda for our interregional cooperation and identify specific areas of fruitful cooperation for the long term, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan reports.