The Minister of Investments, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan: We want even deeper trade and economic cooperation with Bulgaria

The President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tsvetan Simeonov, held a working meeting with the Minister of Investments, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan, Laziz Kudratov. He is visiting Bulgaria with a representative team to activate the agreements between the heads of state of Bulgaria and Uzbekistan, agreed during the recent visit of President Rumen Radev to Tashkent. The meeting was also attended by Vesselin Halachev, President of the Bulgarian-Uzbek Chamber of Industry.

Simeonov emphasized that Uzbekistan is one of Bulgaria's promising partners in terms of trade and investment in the Central Asian region. He discussed with the guest possible areas for expanding and deepening cooperation and partnership between Bulgaria and Uzbekistan.

Laziz Kudratov expressed the Uzbek side's categorical desire for even deeper trade and economic cooperation with Bulgaria and the establishment of direct contacts between Uzbek and Bulgarian companies in various industries such as mining, agriculture, food industry, processing industry, defense industry, construction and infrastructure, pharmaceutical industry, energy, transport and logistics, etc.

Minister Kudratov informed that he has already held meetings at the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Economy and Industry and that the sixth session of the Bulgarian-Uzbek Intergovernmental Commission is expected to be held in the autumn of this year, which is chaired by the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works on the Bulgarian side. He invited the BCCI to join in the preparation of a business forum within the framework of the session of the joint commission.

The possibility of attracting investors to both countries was also discussed. Simeonov emphasized the active role of the Investment Council at the BCCI and encouraged communication between Bulgarian and Uzbek institutions aimed at investment cooperation.

The President of the BCCI emphasized the importance of the agreements that the organization has with the Uzbek Chamber of Commerce and Industry and drew attention to the possibility of active dialogue in the field of commercial arbitration.

At the BCCI, Minister Kudratov also held meetings with several Bulgarian companies from the aforementioned sectors.

According to information from the Ministry of Economy and Industry, trade between Bulgaria and Uzbekistan in 2024 has grown by 12% compared to the previous year, but there is great untapped potential.