The Summit of the Organization of Turkic States kicked off today in Samarkand, where the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made remarks.
“I sincerely thank you for supporting the initiative to declare the city of Samarkand, a symbol of friendship and peace, a center of science and education, the Capital of Turkic Civilization. We are rightfully proud that the bright pages of the great history of the Turkic world were created together by our great ancestors.”
“Today, we are all going through difficult trials associated with acute geopolitical conflicts, the global economic crisis and the negative consequences of climate change.”
“Therefore, in the current dangerous situation, it is extremely important for our countries to determine common approaches and coordinate efforts to solve the most pressing problems. We are able to overcome any difficulties thanks to friendship, cooperation and mutual support.”
“I want to note that over the past year, during the Turkish presidency, our organization has done a lot of work in various areas, and our mutual cooperation has become more active.”
During its presidency, Uzbekistan also effectively implemented the concept of “TURKIC WORLD. VISION - 2040" and the "Five-Year Strategy for the Organization of Turkic States" adopted today, further strengthening the prestige of the Organization, which includes a vast region with more than 170 million population, and most importantly, we intend to bring cooperation between our fraternal peoples and countries with common history, language and culture to a higher level,” President Mirziyoyev said at the beginning of his speech.
“It is important to note that significant work has been done jointly to develop multilateral relations between our countries. At the same time, we must admit that our huge potential and opportunities are not fully utilized. First of all, it is expedient to strengthen the foundations of trade and economic cooperation,” the President said.
According to him, the mutual trade turnover between the OTC countries is only 4 percent of their total foreign trade.
“Of course, none of us can be satisfied with this state of affairs. In addition, some customs tariffs remain high in trade between our countries. In order to radically change the situation in this strategic area, to ensure the free promotion of trade, investment and services, we are putting forward an initiative to create a Space for New Economic Opportunities within our organization,” Mirziyoyev said.
To implement this plan, the president proposed to hold an annual international Turkic economic forum with the active participation of member countries and observers of the organization, as well as leading representatives of world business.
The head of state believes that holding joint events within the framework of the forum in the “state and business” format, meetings of entrepreneurs and round tables, presentations of innovative projects and exhibitions will give a great practical result. It is important to annually adopt “road maps” based on the results of these events, focused on the implementation of joint programs and projects.
“These measures are aimed primarily at a radical increase in the volume of mutual trade and joint entry into the markets of third countries, the creation of continuous value chains, high-tech clusters and venture companies. We also fully support the proposal to launch a joint investment fund,” Mirziyoyev concluded.
