On December 28, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended the informal meeting of the heads of state of the CIS in St. Petersburg.

The parties summed up outcomes of cooperation in the current year and discussed major goals for the upcoming year 2022. They also exchanged views on topical issues of the regional and international agenda.

Speaking about the priorities for the further development of the CIS, Shavkat Mirziyoyev suggested focusing on cooperation in three dimensions: political, economic and humanitarian and underscored the importance of forming a full-fledged free trade zone and strengthening transport interconnectivity in the CIS.

He drew attention to the need to combine efforts in the implementation of national programs and strategies for green development, taking into account the global climate agenda and emphasized the urgency of developing new approaches to addressing food security issues, using competitive advantages and complementarity of economies.

In recent years Uzbekistan has stepped up its involvement in the Commonwealth. Uzbekistan has signed over 40 multilateral agreements and joined 23 sectoral bodies. Last year, the country took over the chairmanship of the CIS for the first time.

In 2021, the Uzbekistan’s trade with the Commonwealth countries increased by a third, with about 1,000 joint ventures set up.

In conclusion, the head of state reiterated Uzbekistan's strong commitment to advancing full-scale cooperation within the CIS and congratulated the summit participants and, in their person, friendly peoples on the coming New Year.

With this, the working visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to St. Petersburg ended, the head of state returned to Tashkent.