The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council welcomed the initiative of Uzbekistan to expand participation in the work of the Eurasian Economic Union in four areas, the press service of the EAEU reported.
During a speech at a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council on February 25, Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov said that Uzbekistan is interested in working in four areas: the climate agenda, the digitalization of freight rail transportation, electronic commerce and the implementation of the Eurasian Agroexpress project. The latest project is aimed at increasing the volume of mutual deliveries and exports of agricultural products and food, as well as its diversification.
“At the first stage, regular shipments outside the EAEU will be organized in two directions - to China and Uzbekistan, as well as back. In the future, sales routes can be expanded to other countries of the Asian and European regions,” said Andrey Slepnev, Minister for Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC).
According to him, the regularity of transportation will make it possible to form tariffs that are competitive in relation to sea freight, as well as reduce the delivery time of goods (up to 10-14 days to China and 4-7 days to Uzbekistan). In addition, it is planned to create all the necessary infrastructure - a well-functioning logistics supply chain.
Abdulla Aripov also said that the process of agreeing on the conditions and procedures for Uzbekistan's accession to the Eurasian Development Bank is currently underway. Plans to join the government of Uzbekistan were reported back in December.
In addition, as the prime minister underscored, the coordination of a joint road map between the government of Uzbekistan and the Eurasian Economic Commission is being completed. This document includes cooperation between the relevant bodies of Uzbekistan and departments of the commission in the trade, industrial, customs, financial and tax fields, as well as in the field of energy, technical regulation, circulation of medicines and medical devices.
“We express our hope for the support of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union in approving the adoption of this document,” he said.
Abdulla Aripov stressed that increasing the two-way trade with the EAEU member countries is a priority for Uzbekistan. He believes that for a full-fledged free trade regime, it is necessary to have barriers and refrain from introducing new restrictive measures.
The head of the government of Uzbekistan also proposed to continue joint work on the harmonization and mutual recognition of technical regulations, sanitary, phytosanitary and veterinary requirements. According to him, Uzbekistan is counting on the support of the EEC to develop measures for the convergence and unification of legal acts in the field of non-tariff regulation.
Uzbekistan is also interested in exchanging experience in implementing a mechanism for the traceability of goods and a system of electronic navigation seals in trade relations with the EAEU.
Taking into account the stabilization of the epidemiological situation in the world and the ongoing vaccination of the population, the head of the government of Uzbekistan proposed to resume passenger traffic by rail and road transport.
Abdulla Aripov invited officials and business circles to take part in the Tashkent Investment Forum on March 24-26 and the international industrial exhibition "Innoprom Central Asia" on April 25-27.
In 2021, Uzbekistan's international trade with the EAEU countries increased by 30% and amounted to about $12.7 billion. Of these, the volume of exports amounted to just over $4 billion, and the volume of imports - $8.6 billion.
