Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin and Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov held the 4th meeting of the Russia-Uzbekistan Joint Commission at the level of heads of government.

Meeting of the Joint Commission at the level of heads of government of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan

Documents signed following the meeting

Excerpts from the transcript:

Mikhail Mishustin: Mr Aripov, colleagues, friends.

We are glad to welcome you all in Moscow. The fourth meeting of the Russia-Uzbekistan Joint Commission at the level of heads of government has actually been taking place for a couple of days now. I know that many of my colleagues came here in advance, met with their counterparts and discussed a lot of topical issues on our joint agenda.

This format was created in agreement with the presidents, Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Vladimir Putin, and allows us to discuss the most pressing issues on our mutual agenda in detail, and to jointly determine the prospects for further interaction in priority areas, primarily in trade, economic, investment, scientific and technical, cultural and humanitarian spheres.

We will review the main issues on our agenda. I suggest focusing on efforts to expand cooperation in industry, agriculture, energy, the high-tech sector, education and medicine. Relations between Russia and Uzbekistan are based on principles of neighbourliness, partnership and allied collaboration. Our nations are linked by a long common history.

Together, we are expanding trade and economic cooperation and effectively addressing our mutual issues, despite the attempts of ill-wishers to sow discord in our cooperation.

We see Uzbekistan as a leading economic partner in the Central Asian region. In turn, Russia is Uzbekistan's number one trade partner.

Despite the complicated international situation, we are consistently strengthening our economic and investment ties. Last year, mutual trade volumes exceeded 600 billion roubles, a 25 percent increase. In January-July 2023, this indicator grew by almost 14.5 percent to about 470 billion roubles.

I am absolutely sure that the potential for Russian and Uzbek economic cooperation is much greater. There are many opportunities for expanding collaboration in new fields.

Of course, we will take our relations to a new level under the Declaration on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed by our presidents.

We welcome Uzbekistan into Eurasian integration as an observer state, and we are doing much collaborative work through this. Uzbekistan is partnering with the EAEU member countries in several spheres.

Mr Abdulla Aripov, I would like to thank you and all our esteemed Uzbek colleagues for taking part in this Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting, and in the Eurasian Congress and Youth Forum in Sochi this past June.

We are convinced that Uzbekistan's involvement in Eurasian integration will create favourable conditions for national economic development, for raising people's well-being and for expanding business and investment activities.

I would like to note that integration collaboration cushions the impact of the negative external situation. This is due to stable production and logistics chains, and to using modern digital economic and other technologies.

We believe it is possible to expand contacts between businesses. The largest Russian companies are expanding their presence in Uzbekistan. Their total investment accounts for 20 percent of overall foreign investment volumes. The number of joint industrial, agro-business, textile industry and transport infrastructure projects continues to increase.

We believe that energy ranks among the most promising sectors. The establishment of a new modern gas processing facility at the Kandym cluster of gas fields, as well as the exploration of Skakhpakhty and Jel gas fields, are a good example of this cooperation.

Another important initiative is the construction of a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan using Russian technology. This was a decision by presidents Vladimir Putin and Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The difficulties with electricity that Uzbekistan faced last winter justify this project, as does the relevance of choosing peaceful nuclear development.

The nuclear power plant will help cover Uzbekistan's demand for electricity, create thousands of jobs and fulfil the industrial potential of the country.

One more objective is the improvement of transport connectivity between our states and all Eurasian space. We are working to draft a comprehensive cooperation programme for the development of railway transport in Uzbekistan. And, Russian investors are ready to participate in the modernisation of airport infrastructure.

Of course, we prioritise the further steps in the development of the North-South international corridor. As we have said, this corridor will be able to compete with the Suez Canal for cargo traffic, and implementing it will help boost trade and economic cooperation between all participants.

We are ready to work more closely to expand transit routes in our common Eurasian space, including those leading to Afghanistan and South Asia.

It is necessary to continue increasing the distribution of agricultural products, first as part of the Agroexpress project. A plan was signed in June. The initiative has proven very successful; it helps provide for an expedited delivery of goods and gives additional opportunities to our producers, including small and medium-sized businesses.

The next priority is deepening our region-to-region relations. Over 80 Russian regions enjoy trade and economic relations with our Uzbek partners. The leaders are Moscow, St Petersburg, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and the Moscow, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg and Sverdlovsk regions.

We need to bring new participants into such partnerships and fill them with concrete initiatives for the further growth of our national economies and improving the wellbeing of the people.

Last spring, Tashkent hosted the "INNOPROM. Central Asia" international industrial expo. It featured some 60 exhibitions under the common motto Made in Russia. Seventeen Russian regions presented their investment and industrial potential.

Such platforms are currently sought-after to exchange best practices, sign contracts, promote products and generally improve industrial policy. We hope that Uzbekistan will take part in the next Innoprom expo which is to be held next summer in Yekaterinburg.

I would also like to invite our Uzbek partners to the Russia International Exhibition and Forum. This will open in early November at the All-Russian Exhibition Centre (VDNKh) in Moscow. It will showcase our country's achievements in recent years, including the experience of regional development and the implementation of projects aimed at improving the quality of people's lives.

We propose that the Republic of Uzbekistan present our joint projects in various sectors in its pavilion. We will be happy to invite visitors to the exhibition to see our mutual cooperation.

Humanitarian ties are of great importance for strengthening neighbourliness. They create a reliable basis for expanding direct contact between people.

Large cultural events are held annually in Russia and Uzbekistan. These include concerts and guest performances, exhibitions and educational events. Our cooperative cross-culture days have become a very good tradition. Also, the unique project, "Russian Seasons," is being held successfully in Uzbekistan this year.

We will continue to cooperate in education. In terms of the number of students at Russian universities, Uzbekistan is a leader among all countries. Of the more than 60,000 Uzbek students in Russia, almost 14,000 are receiving an advanced education under state grants.

In this new academic year, the government quota for young people from Uzbekistan at Russian higher education institutions has been increased from 650 to 800 students.

The network of Russian university branches is expanding in the republic. Among them are Moscow State University, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Herzen Pedagogical University, Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) and many others. In the future, new branches will be opened. In this way, young people will have more opportunities to receive a quality and modern education.

We are also ready to build several schools in Uzbekistan, where education will be conducted in the Russian language, using Russian school curricula. In this way, students will be able to become better acquainted with Russian culture and traditions. If you are interested, we will consider this further.

Colleagues,

I believe that the potential of Russian-Uzbek trade and economic co-operation has not yet been fully realised. Our common task is to jointly bring our business ties to a higher level in the near future, and based on equality, mutual respect and consideration for each other's interests. I know that we can do this.

I would like to wish everyone productive work.

Now, I am pleased to give the floor to the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, Esteemed Abdulla Aripov. Please.

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