Uzbekistan and the UK to adopt a joint roadmap: second Joint Economic Committee meets in Tashkent

On 9 October Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev received the UK Minister of State for Trade, Anas Sarwar, in Tashkent. The minister was in Uzbekistan for the second meeting of the Uzbekistan–UK Joint Economic Committee and delivered a special message from Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

The talks focused on expanding trade, investment and financial cooperation. New projects with possible UK Export Finance participation were discussed in infrastructure, energy, finance, geology, transport, education and health care. The two sides agreed to adopt a joint roadmap for developing their cooperation.

The UK supports the planned Tashkent International Financial Centre, which is to operate under English law. Some 260 joint ventures with British and Uzbek partners already work in Uzbekistan, and the country's National Investment Fund recently completed an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. There are three joint universities, and Uzbekistan's presidential schools cooperate with the University of Cambridge.