The Presidents of Uzbekistan and France agreed to bring bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership

The meeting of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron in a narrow format took place in the Congress Center of the city of Samarkand.

At the beginning of the meeting, the leader of our country emphasized the historical significance of the first visit of the French President to Uzbekistan over the past 30 years of cooperation.

Emmanuel Macron thanked the head of our state for the invitation, as well as the warm welcome and hospitality extended to the French delegation.

He expressed full support for the ongoing program of irreversible reforms in the New Uzbekistan.

The leaders discussed in detail the issues of further building up comprehensive Uzbek-French cooperation and agreed to bring bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership.

It was stressed that in recent years, the Uzbek-French multifaceted relations have been developing dynamically in all directions.

The multiple growth of trade turnover and the number of joint ventures was noted with satisfaction. The portfolio of active and promising investment projects exceeded 10 billion euros.

A 1 billion euro Strategic Cooperation Program is being implemented with the French Development Agency.

Measures to promote new major projects in the fields of "green" energy, extraction and processing of raw materials, innovative agriculture, water supply, logistics, infrastructure development, tourism and others were discussed.

France expressed its readiness to further support Uzbekistan's efforts to strengthen confidence in Central Asia, as well as our country's accession to the WTO and the early signing of an Agreement on expanded partnership and cooperation with the European Union.

The importance of continuing the political dialogue, strengthening cooperation in the field of security, and effectively countering emerging challenges and threats was emphasized.

The rich cultural and humanitarian agenda was noted with satisfaction. There is a growing interest in learning French in Uzbekistan. In this regard, the parties welcomed the opening of a branch of the French Alliance in the city of Samarkand.

An agreement was reached to accelerate the establishment of an Uzbek-French university in Tashkent and expand cooperation in the field of training French language teachers.

The heads of State also exchanged views on topical issues of the international and regional agenda.