Smt. Anupriya Patel, Hon'ble Minister of State, Commerce and Industry, Government of India at the India – Uzbekistan Business Forum organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry mentioned that the frequent high-level visits of the Heads of State of India and Uzbekistan have played a pivotal role in deepening the ties between the two countries. Uzbekistan is an important trade partner for India and given the close ties of the two countries, Smt. Patel emphasized on growing bilateral trade between the two countries. Accordingly, she urged both the countries to focus on diversifying the trade basket as multisectoral trade is the need of the hour. Smt. Patel further underscored the willingness of India to deepen its engagement with Uzbekistan particularly in infrastructure, hospitality and tourism, IT and, training and capacity building which could also be important for Uzbekistan.

Given the significance of the pharmaceutical and IT sector for Uzbekistan, H.E. Mr. Jamshid Khodjayev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, in his keynote address invited Indian businesses to integrate and jointly produce pharma and IT products with Uzbekistan and work towards the development of several segments such as fintech and cybersecurity.

Mr Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Co-Chair, India Uzbekistan Joint Business Council (From India) & Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises in his opening remarks stressed upon the potential of engagement between India and Uzbekistan in agriculture, tourism, health & pharma, and space.

Mr. Farkhodjon Toshpulatov, Deputy Chairman, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan mentioned that India is considered to be one of the leading partners of Uzbekistan and economic cooperation is Uzbekistan’s priority. He mentioned about Uzbekistan’s keenness to join efforts with India on mutually beneficial projects in pharmaceutical, agriculture, food processing etc.

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AD/KP

Diversifying the trade basket: multisectoral engagement and joint production to broaden bilateral commerce and investments. Diversifying the trade basket and promoting multisectoral trade is the central objective, emphasising expansion in pharmaceuticals, information technology, infrastructure, hospitality and tourism, agriculture, food processing, fintech and cybersecurity through joint production, investment, capacity building and targeted public private engagement to broaden bilateral commerce.