Uzbek President Expects Trade With Russia To Reach $10Bln In Coming Years

Uzbek President Expects Trade With Russia to Reach $10Bln in Coming Years

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted on Friday an increase in bilateral trade with its key trading partner Russia and said that he expected Russia-Uzbekistan trade to reach $10 billion in the coming years

TASHKENT (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2018) Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted on Friday an increase in bilateral trade with its key trading partner Russia and said that he expected Russia-Uzbekistan trade to reach $10 billion in the coming years.

Earlier in the day, Mirziyoyev had talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the country's capital of Tashkent, where the first Uzbek-Russian interregional forum is being held.

"Trade has increased by 30 percent since the beginning of the year. This year, we expect bilateral trade to amount to $6 billion and to reach $10 billion in the coming years," the Uzbek president said.

Mirziyoyev also noted that Russia was Uzbekistan's major trading partner and expressed gratitude for Moscow's opening the so-called green corridor for vegetable and fruit exports from Uzbekistan to Russia.

"We agreed to extend this practice to other [Uzbek] goods, including textile," the Uzbek president added.

According to Mirziyoyev, the Russian investment into the Uzbek economy currently exceeds $8.5 billion and a new series of agreements with leading Russian companies and banks worth around $25 billion have been prepared.

The two sides have been discussing the establishment of the "green corridor" for textile goods since 2017. The "green corridor" arrangement is aimed at increasing the amount of goods imported into a country owing to facilitated customs arrangements and improved logistics.

Between January and August, Russia-Uzbekistan trade amounted to $2.7 billion, marking an over $600-million increase compared to the same period of 2017, with Russia exporting over $2 billion worth of goods to Uzbekistan and imports into Russia reaching $705 million, according to the Russian Federal Customs Service.