President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke at the second Central Asia-European Union Summit, the presidential press service said.

At the beginning of his speech, he addressed the President of the European Council Charles Michel: Your commitment and all-round support for the development of a constructive political dialogue and multifaceted cooperation with the countries of Central Asia largely determine the effectiveness of our contacts.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev reminded that less than a year had passed since the first such meeting in Astana, but a lot of steps had been taken during this period: Uzbekistan hosted a joint conference with the EU on interregional connectivity, which promoted projects in the areas of digitalization, transport communications, energy and water resources management , a number of regional projects have been launched - to create a sustainable energy system in Central Asia, as well as in the field of vocational education.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev also noted that the outcomes of the Civil Society Forum in March, the second Economic Forum in Almaty and the annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Samarkand showed positive, qualitative changes in the dialogue with our European partners.

“Today Central Asia is a center and a space for new economic opportunities for leading European companies and banks,” he stressed. This, according to him, is about a broad investment and technological partnership aimed at:

• creation of modern industrial facilities,
• introduction of green energy,
• development of smart agriculture,
• formation of an extensive transport and logistics infrastructure.

He noted that there was every reason to expect a two-fold increase in trade and investment figures by 2030.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev underscored that after the historic visit to Uzbekistan by Charles Michel, contacts at all levels had noticeably intensified.

“We held meetings with the leaders of France, Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic. We opened embassies in Budapest and Stockholm. I plan to visit Italy next week,” the head of state said.

He noted that Uzbekistan's trade with the EU countries continued to grow steadily thanks to the GSP + regime: if last year the volume of trade increased by 20%, then year-to-date it had increased by almost 70%.

The portfolio of projects for new facilities with leading European companies and banks exceeded 20 billion euros. “The implementation of joint projects will allow changing the industrial map on the Eurasian continent,” the head of state stressed.

The President of Uzbekistan put forward proposals on priority areas of cooperation.

“The first area is trade. Uzbekistan is seeking to radically expand the trade relations with the European Union, primarily in the creation of sustainable trade and logistics chains and effective mechanisms to support deliveries,” the head of state said.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that the country was seeking in extending the GSP+ regime for a new period.

“We believe that the extension of this regime of preferences to the countries of the region will serve to increase the industrial potential and competitiveness of our economies,” he stressed.

At the same time, the President underscored that there were a number of related issues, such as:

• creation in the region of a network of modern laboratories, centers of standardization and certification in accordance with the requirements of the European Union;
• development of skills and potential of Uzbek exporters to work in the European market;
• holding events aimed at raising the awareness of European companies about the trading opportunities of the countries of the region.

“Unfortunately, we have not yet made significant progress on all these areas,” he said. To address them, he proposed to jointly develop a comprehensive program to support exporters and importers of the countries of the region.

“In addition, the swift completion of the process of adopting the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Uzbekistan and the European Union will contribute to the fulfillment of this task,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The second area is transport corridors.

“It is important to combine the efforts of our countries in order to develop the transport and communication interconnectivity of Central Asia and Europe, primarily through the formation of the so-called Middle Route - the Trans-Caspian transit corridor,” the head of state emphasized.

He noted that there was still no coordinated approach to increase the competitiveness of this highway.

“Today we need tariffs that will be beneficial for businesses that generate the main volumes of cargo traffic. However, as analysis shows, the current tariffs and fees in this direction are 1.5 times higher than, for example, on alternative North-South routes,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Equally important are the issues of expanding the transport, logistics and port infrastructure in accordance with the projected growth in cargo traffic, as well as improving the technical condition of the roadway, the president added.

The head of Uzbekistan proposed creating a mechanism for using the potential of the Trans-Caspian corridor and holding regular meetings of authorized representatives of the transport departments of the countries of the region and the EU.

The third direction is investment and technological partnership.

“I believe that the time is big to consider the issue of holding annual industrial and technology exhibitions within the framework of the Central Asia-European Union economic forum,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev also expressed interest in launching, together with the European Investment Bank, special financial support instruments for the transfer of production facilities of leading European companies to Uzbekistan.

As for the fourth area, here Uzbekistan counts on a close partnership with the European Union in the field of digital connectivity.

The studies of the World Bank experst show that the expansion of high-speed Internet access will lead to a proportional increase in the gross product and exports of the countries of the region, the head of state said.

“We support the relevant Europe Team initiative and propose to develop a joint Digital Agenda for Central Asia,” the President of Uzbekistan said.

The fifth area is counteracting climate challenges, increasing the sustainability of ecosystems through the implementation of targeted regional projects using European knowledge and technologies.

The head of state underscored that today “green” energy was actively developing in Uzbekistan. “We plan to increase the renewable energy generation capacity to 25,000 MW by 2030, increasing its share from the current 14% to 40%,” he said.

The president invited the European Union to co-organize the first International Climate Forum, which will be held this autumn as part of the Samarkand Solidarity Initiative for Common Security and Prosperity.

The sixth area is the development of tourism. “Central Asia’s huge tourism potential is far from being fully tapped today,” the head of state said.

He proposed to jointly develop a Program to promote the development of sustainable tourism for Central Asia and present it at the anniversary session of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization, which will be held in October this year in Uzbekistan.

This program, according to the president, will cover:

• infrastructure modernization and reconstruction projects of historical heritage sites,
• expansion of geography and frequency of flights;
• the development of unified tourist products and routes covering the entire region, as well as the simplification of visa procedures.

The seventh area is investment in youth education. “In the near future, we plan to establish partnerships with leading universities of the EU countries and introduce joint educational programs, primarily in technical specialties,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

He also suggested considering the possibility of expanding support for research and educational projects for the Central Asian region under the Horizon Europe program.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev underscored that the most important area of interaction is to strengthen cooperation in the fight against new challenges and threats to security.

“Today we are effectively implementing joint programs to protect borders, counter drug trafficking and terrorism. With the assistance of European partners, thousands of highly qualified specialists have been trained, border checkpoints have been modernized,” the President underscored.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that he deemed it necessary to develop new partnership programs in the field of combating extremism and radicalism, human trafficking, organized and cybercrime, as well as border protection. He proposed to hold an expert conference "Central Asia - European Union: a new agenda for security cooperation" for this purpose.

“Afghan problems are in the center of our attention. Unfortunately, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is rapidly deteriorating. According to the UN, millions of Afghans are currently on the brink of survival. We urge our partners not to reduce the volume of humanitarian aid to the Afghan people. We are ready to continue to provide the logistics hub in Termez for these purposes,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

In conclusion, the President of Uzbekistan added that it would be appropriate to develop and adopt a road map with all the above initiatives.

“I also support the proposal to make our contacts regular. I am grateful for the support of our initiative to hold the first summit in this format in Uzbekistan next year,” the head of state said.