The leaders of Uzbekistan and France took part in a joint business forum

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As part of the business program of the official visit of the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron to the Republic of Uzbekistan, a joint business forum was held in the city of Samarkand. The heads of the two states took part in its work.

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has already met with leading representatives of the French business community during his official visit to this country in November 2022, following which specific agreements were reached on expanding trade, economic and investment partnership. This forum has become a continuation of an open and constructive dialogue.

The French side was represented by Olivier Becht, Minister-Delegate for Foreign Trade, Economic Attractiveness and French Citizens Abroad, Roland Lescure, Minister-Delegate for Industry under the Minister of Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, Claude Imoven, Director General of the MEDEF International Business Association, Remy Rioux, Director General of the French Development Agency.

In addition, the event was attended by the heads of large companies and banks – EDF, Voltalia, Total Energies, Orano, Eiffel, Veolia, SUEZ, Lactalis, Semai, Semmaris, Alstom, Airbus Helicopters, ATR, Vicat, Mobilitas, Boehringer Ingelheim, Thales, Aramine, Meridiame, Societe Generale, Natixis and others.

Opening the meeting in ancient Samarkand, the head of our state warmly welcomed President Emmanuel Macron and representatives of the French business elite.

It was noted with satisfaction that thanks to active contacts at the highest level, there is a positive dynamics in the development of trade, economic and investment cooperation.

Since the beginning of the year, the volume of mutual trade has tripled, and the number of joint ventures has quadrupled in recent years.

It was stressed that further strengthening of direct trade ties and industrial cooperation fully meets the long-term interests of both countries.

– Today, my esteemed colleague and I held very fruitful talks. I would like to emphasize that a new era of our cooperation is beginning. In the future, we intend to raise our relations to the level of strategic partnership," the President of Uzbekistan said.

In his speech, the head of our state emphasized that the leaders of the two countries agreed to provide full support to the issues of significant expansion of mutual trade, activation of investment activities of French companies.

This will be facilitated by the introduction of new mechanisms for financing joint projects, the creation of more favorable conditions for business and full support for the implementation of business initiatives.

Cooperation in the energy sector, mining industry, water supply, transport, agriculture, banking and financial sector and others has already made great progress.

The readiness to create new effective platforms for expanding productive and open dialogue
with the French business community was expressed.

In this context, the leader of our country welcomed the agreements within the framework of the forum on the establishment of a joint Uzbek-French chamber of commerce. In addition, plans to open an office of the Business France agency in Tashkent were supported.

Interest was expressed in continuing support of the reform program in Uzbekistan by the government, as well as leading companies and financial institutions of France.

– I can say for sure that our reforms have become irreversible. Our priority goal is to build a democratic state with strong civil society institutions, modern infrastructure
and powerful industry," the head of state noted.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev identified four priority areas and made a number of initiatives to expand the Uzbek-French partnership.

They expressed readiness to develop strategic cooperation in such an important area as "green" energy, where the implementation of major projects with EDF, Voltalia and Total Energies has already begun.

Another important area of cooperation is the deep processing of strategic raw materials and the production of industrial products based on advanced technologies. It was noted that there are already plans to expand partnership with Orano companies in this direction.

Efficient use of water resources and the creation of modern infrastructure is designated as an important priority. It is indicated that a lot of work is being done with the companies SUEZ, Eiffel and Veolia to modernize the water supply systems and heating networks of the country.

Another important area that is receiving great attention is increasing competitiveness in the field of agriculture and ensuring food security.

In this regard, support was expressed for active cooperation with the French side on the construction of modern agrologistic complexes in the regions of our country.

The President of Uzbekistan stressed the importance of the business forum as a platform for an intensive and constructive dialogue between businessmen of the two countries and the identification of new growth points.

– Turning to our French partners, I want to emphasize that our doors to work in the New Uzbekistan are always open, and we are ready to implement any promising joint projects, – the head of our state said in conclusion.

French President Emmanuel Macron also addressed the participants of the business forum with a welcoming speech. He expressed full support for the reform course pursued by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and noted the great opportunities opened up thanks to him for bilateral investment cooperation. He called for more active use of the solid potential of mutually beneficial partnership, expressing confidence that the economies and peoples of both countries will benefit from this.  

Following the results of the business forum, a solid package of documents was signed on agreements in the field of energy, metallurgy, water supply, agriculture, transport and other important areas.