In Riyadh, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov discussed the current state and prospects for expanding investment and trade and economic cooperation between the two states with the Minister of Investments of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Khalid al-Falih. - UZDaily

Currently, about 40 enterprises with Saudi capital operate in Uzbekistan. Projects with such leading Saudi companies as ACWA Power, Al-Habib Medical Group and others have been successfully implemented and are being implemented. At the same time, given the significant untapped potential for the development of cooperation in the investment sphere, the parties discussed the prospects for the implementation of new projects in such areas as the chemical, metallurgical, mining and textile industries, as well as agriculture, and agreed to work together to attract Uzbek and Saudi businesses to participate in these projects.

Further steps were discussed to increase the success of Saudi companies in the energy sector of Uzbekistan. The meeting participants analyzed the current state of ongoing projects and exchanged proposals for their accelerated completion and commissioning of generating capacities under construction.

Special attention was paid to projects aimed at ensuring food security. The parties agreed to form a separate investment portfolio in the field of agriculture and processing of agricultural products, which provides for the introduction of innovative and water-saving technologies. Cooperation in the textile industry was also discussed.

Also during the conversation, the parties reviewed the implementation of the agreements reached during the 5th meeting of the Uzbek-Saudi Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economy, Science and Technology, Culture, Sports and Youth held in March this year in Tashkent and the 3rd meetings of the Uzbek-Saudi Business Council, and worked out a number of issues to more actively promote agreed projects and initiatives.

In the context of the further expansion of the Uzbek-Saudi investment partnership, the opportunities of the Economic Empowerment Fund, created in Uzbekistan in 2021 jointly with the Islamic Development Bank, as well as the potential of the Saudi Development Fund, which has already allocated about US$200 million for the implementation of social and infrastructure projects in Uzbekistan. The parties agreed to work out opportunities for the implementation of new projects with the involvement of the resources of the above financial institutions.

As a result of the meeting, further joint actions were identified aimed at finding new points of intersection of mutual interests and expanding mutually beneficial investment cooperation between the two countries.