During his trip to Paris, Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended the meeting with the CEOs of major French companies, the presidential press service said on Wednesday.
The event was attended by Laurent Saint-Martin, Minister-Delegate of France for for Foreign Trade and French Nationals Abroad, Rémy Rioux, CEO of the French Development Agency, Claude Imoven, Chairman of MEDEF International/president of Orano Mining, as well as more than 60 CEOs and chiefs of major companies, investment and banking and financial institutions of the two countries.
French business was represented by SUEZ, Veolia, Total, EDF, Voltalia, Orano, Meridiam, Saint-Gobain, Imerys, Natixis, Société Générale, BPI France, Airbus, MND, Eiffage, Schneider Electric, Total Energies, Alstom, Technip Energies, Egis, ADP Group, Ellipse Projects, Assystem, ATR and other companies.
In his remarks, Shavkat Mirziyoyev highly commended the fruitful negotiations with the French President Emmanuel Macron, noting that special attention was paid to supporting business initiatives and implementing joint cooperation projects.
He thanked the representatives of the French business community for supporting the strategy of irreversible economic reforms in New Uzbekistan and pointed to the importance of further expanding trade and economic ties with France.
The program of innovative and industrial cooperation with French companies for the period until 2027 will serve this purpose. It includes specific areas and projects with a total value of 6.5 billion euros.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev identified the development of promising deposits of important mineral resources and their deep processing, the organization of modern production in the construction materials, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, electrical engineering, agriculture, and others as promising areas for further advancing of Uzbek-French business cooperation.
In energy, expanding energy production and storage capacities, and modernizing water management, utilities, tourism, and transport infrastructure in the regions of Uzbekistan have great potential for developing cooperation.
“I propose to establish a permanent Uzbek-French Investment Council to support and expedite projects involving companies from both countries. On our part, it will be headed by the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan. We can hold the first meeting in June within the framework of the Tashkent International Investment Forum. I invite all of you to actively participate in the upcoming event as full members of the council being organized,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
In turn, representatives of the French business community outlined specific proposals and plans to expand cooperation. The President Mirziyoyev wished success to the representatives of the business community and instructed the heads of relevant ministries and departments to ensure oversight over the implementation of agreements reached on the basis of "road maps" approved by the government of Uzbekistan.
