President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a telephone conversation with President of the European Council Charles Michel, the presidential press service said.

The parties reportedly discussed the topical issues of Uzbek-EU multifaceted cooperation, primarily in the politico-diplomatic, trade, economic, investment and humanitarian areas.

With deep satisfaction, the dynamic development of partnership and the intensification of exchanges at various levels observed in recent years were noted.

The President of the European Council highly commended and fully supported the unprecedented decisive measures taken in Uzbekistan to counteract the spread of coronavirus infection and minimize its negative impact on ongoing socio-economic reforms in the country.

Charles Michel reiterated the readiness of the European Union to provide the necessary support in the fight against the pandemic, informed of the decision to provide financial and technical assistance to Uzbekistan for these purposes.

He noted with deep satisfaction the positive changes and the modern level of ties of friendship and trust, good neighborliness and partnership achieved by the joint efforts of the countries of the region. According to the President of the European Council, this remarkable progress is fully consistent with the goals and objectives of the new EU Strategy for Central Asia.

The importance of active joint work in order to strengthen the interconnectivity and sustainable development of the entire region, primarily by promoting programs and projects in the field of trade, investment, innovation, transport and energy, was noted. To this end, the issue of holding a multilateral Ministerial Conference by the end of the year to develop priority steps aimed at deepening regional cooperation will be worked out.

A number of other issues on the international agenda were also considered, as well as a schedule of upcoming events at the highest level.

At the end of the telephone conversation, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of the European Council Charles Michel reaffirmed their strong mutual commitment to the development of the Uzbek-European constructive dialogue and full-scale cooperation.