On April 8, Deputy PM/ Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Sardor Umrzakov met with Minister of Trade of Turkey Ruhsar Pekcan.

The parties discussed the current state and prospects of bilateral trade ties, as well as the next joint steps to elevate the two-way trade to US$ 5 billion in the near future.

Priority tasks have been identified to expedite drafting the preferential trade agreement between Uzbekistan and Turkey by accelerating cooperation between experts of relevant ministries and departments of the two countries and developing mutually acceptable solutions to existing issues. According to the parties, the signing of the agreement will significantly contribute to the strengthening of economic partnership ties between the two countries.

The parties also stressed the urgency of establishing a practical partnership in the field of e-commerce and set the signing of a relevant document in the near future as one of the priorities of bilateral cooperation in this area.

In addition, the issues of enhancing cooperation in the field of technical regulation, standardization, conformity assessment, accreditation and metrology through the expansion of cooperation between the standardization authorities of the two countries were discussed. At the same time, the common goal is to eliminate barriers to Uzbek and Turkish producers in the supply of products.

During the talks, Ruhsar Pekcan commended the measures taken by Uzbekistan to integrate into the international economic space and expressed readiness to provide full assistance in the process of accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by organizing trainings and consultations for Uzbek experts involved in the negotiation process.

Following the talks, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Accreditation Center under the Uzstandard Agency and the Turkish Accreditation Agency on the introduction of the Halal standard.