President Shavkat Mirziyoyev addressed the Uzbekistan-France Business Forum today in Samarkand. Shavkat Mirziyoyev underscored that a new era of cooperation between Uzbekistan and France was beginning, between the countries “with great trust and openness a great foundation is being laid for further development.”

“We have now agreed that we would upgrade our ties to the level of strategic partnership. This will have a high status, we will have to do a lot of work to live up to this status. But I think that we have laid a solid foundation in each area,” he said.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev added that the two-way trade between the countries had tripled since the beginning of the year, and the number of joint ventures in recent years had quadrupled. The parties agreed to radically increase the volume of trade turnover, intensify investment projects, introduce an adaptive mechanism for financing joint projects, create even more amenities for business and support the initiatives put forward by entrepreneurs.

The head of state voiced the French companies that operate in Uzbekistan or show interest in this country, and addressed them with a statement:

“I want to assure you once again that we will create convenience for all of you in Uzbekistan. As president, I want to give you guarantees. Your activities in Uzbekistan and our cooperation in the future are guaranteed by the President and Government of Uzbekistan. You should never have doubts, trust us,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized.

He noted that the international community is faced with complex geopolitical and economic problems. “These threats lead us to look for new opportunities to develop our economies and act together. We agreed on this at meetings in the head-to-head meeting and between delegations,” he said.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev assured that economic reforms will not be reversed. “There is no way back - only forward. We will continue [the policy of] an open economy with all opportunities and conditions. We promised this to our people, we promised this to our entrepreneurs. We will definitely comply with this,” said the President of Uzbekistan.

According to him, the main goal of the country's current leadership is to build a democratic state with strong civil public institutions, modern infrastructure and powerful industry.

He expressed confidence that the government, companies and financial institutions of France would actively support Uzbekistan on this path.

Areas of cooperation

Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that Uzbekistan and French business had plans to develop a strategic partnership in the field of “green” economy. Major projects have already been started together with EDF, Total Energy, Voltalia.

The second area is the processing of strategic raw materials using advanced technologies and the export of industrial goods, expanding geological exploration work in uranium deposits together with the Orano company. On the sidelines of the Uzbek-French business forum, Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with the head of Orano, Claude Imoven. At the meeting, initiatives to expand cooperation in the field of geological exploration and uranium mining were supported.

Bloomberg previously reported that the parties would discuss supplies of Uzbek uranium to France.

In November 2022, the State Committee for Geology, Navoiuran and Orano signed a trilateral agreement to expand uranium mining and processing. Uzbekistan intends to focus on the French model in the “nuclear fuel value chain.” Orano said it was preparing to invest “several hundred million euros.”

Orano is present in Uzbekistan through the JV Nurliqum Mining (51% owned by Orano and 49% owned by Navoiuran). Nurliqum Mining is engaged in a project to develop the Jelgendi uranium deposit, according to the company’s website.

The third area is effective management of water resources and the creation of modern infrastructure. Projects are already being implemented with Suez, Veolia and others.

The fourth area is that Uzbekistan is making efforts to increase competitiveness in agriculture, therefore it supports the initiative of the French Rungis Semmaris to build agrological centers for the wholesale trade of products in the Samarkand, Andijan and Tashkent provinces.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting with the Chairman of Semmaris, Stefan Layani. The company owns the world's largest food logistics center with an annual turnover of €9 billion and has experience in building and managing efficient wholesale food markets around the world.