Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir received on Monday Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev and his accompanying delegation in Cairo. The delegation included Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Laziz Kudratov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Cairo Mansurbek Baxtiyarovich Kilichev, and a number of Uzbek officials. The meeting dealt with ways to improve trade exchange rates and enhance joint industrial and investment cooperation between the two countries during the coming period. The meeting also tackled some economic issues and files of common interest, as well as developments in the global economic situation. Minister of Trade Ahmed Samir said that the Egyptian state is keen to strengthen its economic relations with Uzbekistan as it is one of the important countries in the Central Asian region, and can be used as a hub for Egyptian exports to enter the markets of the countries of that region, highlighted the ministry's keenness to benefit from large industrial expertise of Uzbekistan in a large number of Industrial sectors. Samir pointed out that there are great investment opportunities in the Egyptian market for the business community in Uzbekistan in various production and service sectors, which contributes to providing the needs of the local market and export with preferential advantages to a large number of regional and global markets thanks to the network of free trade agreements concluded between Egypt and a large number of countries and major economic blocs in the world. The minister noted that the current period is witnessing an unprecedented momentum regarding the exchange of official visits between the two countries, which contribute to strengthening bilateral relations in various fields and at all levels, as well as identifying trade and investment opportunities available in the two countries to start joint projects that are in the interest of the economies of the two countries alike. Samir stressed the importance of forming a joint business council in a way that contributes to advancing economic and trade relations between the two countries and opening new horizons and areas for cooperation in line with the great economic potential of both countries, as well as benefiting from investment opportunities available in Egypt and Uzbekistan. The trade exchange between the two countries amounted to about $49.9m in 2022, compared to approximately $46.6m in 2021, an increase of about 7%. Electronics, renewable energy and pharmaceuticals, he disclosed, elaborated that there are distinct investment opportunities in the Egyptian market, which are of interest to business circles in Uzbekistan, especially in fields of textiles, ready-made garments, leather, electronics, renewable energy and medicines. For his part, Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev affirmed his country's keenness to strengthen commercial, industrial and joint investment cooperation with Egypt as one of the pivotal countries in the Middle East and the African continent, highlighted the interest of Uzbek companies to invest in the Egyptian market, especially in the Suez Canal economic zone. Khodjaev stated that the upcoming visit of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Cairo will represent a new start for the well-established relations between the two countries, especially since the historic visit of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to Uzbekistan in 2018 paved the way for the start of a new phase of distinguished bilateral relations between Cairo and Tashkent. The current trend of the State of Uzbekistan towards strengthening joint cooperation with the countries of the Arab region in various fields and at all levels, he concluded.
