President Shavkat Mirziyoyev today hosted the visiting European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela, the presidential press service said.
They discussed the ways to develop the Uzbek-European multifaceted relations, underscored the growing dynamics of bilateral cooperation in recent years, in particular in the political, trade, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian spheres and emphasized the presence of great opportunities and potential for its consistent expansion.
"This will also be served by the early signing of a new Agreement on Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation between Uzbekistan and the EU," it was said at the meeting. Recall that EU Ambassador to Uzbekistan Toivo Klaar previously underscored that the signing could take place in the first half of the year during the visit of the President of Uzbekistan to Brussels.
The parties expressed mutual interest in promoting joint projects and programs in the fields of transport and logistics, energy, digitalization, agriculture and water management, and other priority areas and focused on establishing mutually beneficial cooperation in the processing of critical mineral resources. It should be underscored that on the first day of his visit to Uzbekistan, Josef Sikela visited the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Plant to study the possibilities of developing resources and investing in critical minerals.
At the meeting, the sides discussed aspects of organizing and holding the first Central Asia-EU summit and the Climate Forum in early April this year in Samarkand and exchanged views on regional cooperation in Central Asia.
