19th meeting of the Uzbekistan-EU Cooperation Committee took place in Tashkent on December 5. The meeting was co-chaired: Uzbek Deputy Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Badriddin Abidov, and the EU’s Deputy Director of the European External Economic Service Action for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Luke Devin.

According to the Ministry of Investment, the parties reviewed the current state and the ways to further expand cooperation in the field of improving law enforcement, protecting human rights and freedoms, as well as the political partnership agenda for 2024.

The sides exchanged views on the further development of financial, technical, trade, economic and investment cooperation, focusing on measures to liberalize and simplify trade procedures using the benefits of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP+) of the European Union.

They commended the upward trend in the trade between Uzbekistan and the EU. In just 10 months of 2023, the volume of the two-way trade increased by 36% compared to the same period last year and topped $4.8 billion.

Separate discussion took place on the partnership in the energy sector, the main goal of which is to achieve a 1.5-fold reduction in the energy intensity of the Uzbek economy and increase its energy efficiency by 20% by 2030. In this area, 28 agreements have been entered into on the basis of public-private partnerships for the construction of large-scale solar and wind power plants with a total capacity of 11.5 GW. Another 16 projects totaling 12.8 GW are at the design and negotiation stage. The EU will provide the necessary consulting support to the development and implementation of green energy projects.

Discussing issues of further development of cooperation in the field of cargo transportation and logistics, the European side expressed its readiness to support Uzbekistan’s efforts to diversify transport corridors through the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.