On October 22, the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, Sardor Umurzakov met with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in Washington.

The parties reportedly exchanged views on the bilateral trade ties and the ways to boost them. In this context, the parties recognized the need for regular meetings at the interdepartmental level for swift resolution of existing issues and ещ remove barriers to investment-trade and economic cooperation.

Sardor Umurzakov voiced a proposal to intensify mutual trade by increasing the export of Uzbekistan products to the United States on 60 items totaling ГЫ$ 1.5 billion, which was positively received and accepted for review by the U.S. senior officials. The list of export-oriented products including volumes was handed over to the leadership of the US Department of Commerce in order to draft trade deals.

Also within the framework of the meeting, a proposal was announced to increase the level of trade and economic cooperation between the countries of the Central Asia and the United States by organizing a platform for interstate cooperation at the ministerial level in the C5+1 format with the participation of ministers responsible for foreign economic and trade.

Another outcome of the meeting was the decision to set up an interdepartmental working group consisting of high-level experts from the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan and the U.S. Department of Commerce in order to ensure constant joint work to boost the two-way trade and swiftly resolve issues.