The Deputy PM/Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade S. Umurzakov met with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu.

During the talks, the parties reviewed the broad agenda of political and economic partnership ties between the two countries. They underscored that in eleven months of 2021, the two-way trade between the two countries increased by 48.5% to the same period in 2020. In addition, over the past few years, the number of U.S.-invested enterprises in Uzbekistan has doubled.

The parties expressed interest in attracting U.S. investors and large companies for the implementation of joint projects in Uzbekistan and expressed their readiness to hold a business forum for the businesses of the two countries in the first half of 2022, together with the American-Uzbek Chamber of Commerce (AUCC).

During the meeting, the most promising areas for further expansion of bilateral economic partnership were identified, including the mining industry, the chemical industry, agriculture, the textile industry and other areas.

The parties considered the possibilities of building up interaction between the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the Direct Investment Fund of Uzbekistan, meaning the development of mechanisms for the joint implementation of investment projects in Uzbekistan.

The Uzbek side welcomed the Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative and expressed its readiness to cooperate within the framework of this initiative to implement promising joint projects in four key areas: development of renewable energy sources, digitalization, healthcare and the promotion of gender equality.