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India and Uzbekistan have decided to start work on a preferential trade agreement (PTA), enhance efforts for a four-fold increase in bilateral trade to $1 billion over the next two years and promote investment flows and joint business activities.
Visiting Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and his team of senior Ministers and officials signed 17 MoUs and agreements with India on Monday in areas such as health, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, law and justice and defence cooperation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the visit of Mirziyovev emphasised that a strong strategic partnership between India and Uzbekistan is vital to the country’s engagement with Central Asia.
“The Indian side welcomed the new political atmosphere in Central Asia, characterised by the intensification of a high-level dialogue between states, the strengthening of mutual understanding, trust and good-neighbourliness, as well as closer economic and cultural-humanitarian cooperation, which will undoubtedly lead to the transformation of Central Asia into a stable and prosperous region,” according to a joint statement issued after the meeting between Modi and the visiting Uzbek President.
The two sides agreed to constitute an expert group to conduct Joint Feasibility Study and commence negotiations for India-Uzbekistan PTA by the end of 2018.
The countries also agreed to work towards balancing the trade between the two sides by reducing the trade deficit and enhance efforts to achieve the bilateral trade target of $1 billion by 2020. India’s exports to Uzbekistan in 2017-18 were valued at $132.72 million while it imported goods worth $101.67 million.
Making a case for further promotion of investment between the two countries, the joint statement mentioned the favourable conditions for investment by Indian companies in Uzbekistan, including in the framework of the Special Economic Zones and Free Pharmaceutical zones.
It was also decided that the sectoral joint working groups in the areas of pharmaceuticals, tourism and IT set up recently will hold their regular meetings for implementation of various economic agreements.
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