The presidents of Uzbekistan and Slovenia, Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Nataša Pirc Musar discussed the ways to expand bilateral cooperation in Ljubljana on Thursday. This is the first ever high-level talks between the two countries in 20 years.
During the talks, the parties underscored that political dialogue and contacts at various levels had been stepped up between the countries. However, they added that to make the bilateral ties more systemic, it was important to set up regular high-level contacts.
Reportedly, in recent years, the two-way trade has tripled. In 2024, the trade topped $175.74 million, which is 1.6 times more than in 2023 (109.6 million). The parties vowed to increase trade figures initially up to 500 million euros.
We are talking about deliveries of textiles, fruit and vegetable products, mineral fertilizers, copper products and other industrial goods from Uzbekistan, and medicines, advanced technologies and equipment from Slovenia.
The two leaders noted that the parties would explore using the Slovenian port of Koper as a logistics hub by Uzbek firms for access to the European Union market.
They reached deals on the adoption of an industrial cooperation program with Slovenian companies, as well as on implementing projects for manufacturing equipment, industrial and agricultural goods, localization of pharmaceutical production, including those based on honey and medicinal herbs, construction and modernization of energy facilities.
For systemic cooperation in the field of labor migration, the parties decided to draft an Agreement on organized labor migration including training and adaptation programs for language, professional skills and labor standards.
The parties outlined tourism, especially in rural and mountainous areas, as a promising area. In the field of education, they agreed to sign an agreement on mutual recognition of diplomas and launch joint training programs with the Universities of Ljubljana and Maribor.
Next year, Tashkent will host a joint youth forum of innovative projects in with the participation of universities and research centers of the two countries.
To implement the agreements, the parties made an agreement to hold the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission in July in the capital of Slovenia.
