The presidents of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Russia Vladimir Putin chaired the first meeting of the Council of provinces of the two countries on May 27. The heads of almost 30 provinces of Russia and 300 representatives of major industrial enterprises and businesses of the Russian Federation attended it.

The Council was created in place of the joint Forum for Interprovincial Cooperation, launched by the heads of the two states six years ago. Now its status has been upgraded to the Council of Provinces, chaired by presidents.

Opening the forum, the president of Uzbekistan emphasized that cooperation between the provinces “is highly effective and contributes to the expansion of long-term partnership between Uzbekistan and Russia.”

He noted the intensification of contacts at all levels since the beginning of the year, including between the provinces of the two countries. Just last week, delegations from the provinces of Uzbekistan visited partner provinces in Russia.

Currently, over 200 joint projects worth $4 billion are being implemented at the provincial level. As part of the council meeting, a new package of agreements worth more than $5 billion was prepared, the president noted.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev recalled that during his negotiations with Vladimir Putin on that day, new ambitious goals were set - bringing the volume of two-way trade to $30 billion in the coming years and disbursing up to $10 billion of investments next year.

The president of Uzbekistan outlined several priorities for interprovincial cooperation.

1. First of all, this is an increase in two-way trade. Over the past seven years, Uzbekistan’s trade turnover with Russia has increased 2.5 times. The structure of mutual supplies has improved qualitatively, primarily due to products with high added value, noted the president of Uzbekistan.

Among the main partners are Moscow and St. Petersburg, Tatarstan, Moscow, Leningrad, Novosibirsk, Astrakhan, Ivanovo, Chelyabinsk provinces, Krasnoyarsk, Perm Territory, Bashkortostan and other provinces.

To support trade and cooperation projects, a full-fledged trade mission of Uzbekistan will be opened in Russia, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

2. The second area is expanding the scale of industrial cooperation.

There are more than 3,000 Russian companies in Uzbekistan. Projects are being implemented in the fields of energy, chemistry and petrochemistry, mechanical engineering, agriculture, logistics, textile and food industries and other industries. The Khimgrad industrial zone in the Tashkent province, launched with partners from Tatarstan, is expanding, with a branch in the Jizzakh province.

“The total portfolio of joint projects already exceeds $45 billion. “As part of the current summit, agreements were reached on new cooperation projects for another $20 billion, a quarter of which is in the provinces,” said the president of Uzbekistan.

He supported plans to create new joint industrial zones to promote cooperation projects with major enterprises in Russian provinces.

3. The president named the expansion of cooperation in the field of agriculture as the third priority area.

He noted the importance of continuing work to expand the network of agrological centers in the provinces of Uzbekistan to organize direct supplies of fruits and vegetables to Russia.

Large agricultural enterprises and agricultural clusters of Uzbekistan are also interested in the joint development of wholesale distribution centers in Russia and the cultivation of crops with further supplies to Uzbekistan, added Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

4. The president noted the importance of developing tools for supporting and financing provincial projects.

He said that a joint investment platform with an initial capital of $500 million will begin work in the near future.

5. Particular attention will continue to be paid to expanding cultural and humanitarian exchange. 14 branches of major Russian universities have been created in Uzbekistan, including Moscow and St. Petersburg State Universities in Tashkent, MISIS University of Science and Technology in Almalyk, Kazan Federal University in Jizzakh and many others.

During the visit, agreements were reached on the establishment of branches of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University and the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade. A three-year Cultural Cooperation Program has also been adopted, which provides for joint events in the provinces of the two countries.

6. The president of Uzbekistan emphasized the importance of expanding tourist exchanges. Over the past few years alone, the number of Russian tourists has increased 5 times, he said. All major cities of Uzbekistan and Russia are connected by regular flights.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke in favor of the adoption of new joint programs for the development of tourist routes and trips to the historical cities of Uzbekistan and Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that today 78 out of 89 constituent entities of the Russian Federation are partnering with the regions of Uzbekistan.

He clarified that Russia intends to contribute $400 million out of $500 million to the previously announced joint investment fund to finance promising projects in the regions of Uzbekistan.

“Funds have been allocated and prepared. Now only technical details remain. This will be finalized in the coming days. These are funds that will be directed to various areas of the real sector of the republic’s economy,” he noted.

On the sidelines of the meeting of the Council of Regions, a large package of documents on interregional cooperation and agreements on the development of cooperation in the trade, economic, scientific, technical and humanitarian spheres was signed, the press service of the President of Uzbekistan said in a statement.