Our strategic partnership is stronger than ever before
We are very happy to see that Uzbekistan is taking firm steps towards a bright future in its 32nd year of independence. We wholeheartedly support the vision that is put forward by President Mirziyoyev with the slogan of "New Uzbekistan".
I fully believe that Turkish-Uzbek cooperation will become even stronger in 2023, when we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye with great enthusiasm.
The Türkiye-Uzbekistan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (YDSK) can be expressed as a mechanism that outlines the long-term cooperation between the two countries and allows the relations to be carried out on the basis of strategic partnership and within an institutional framework.
10 billion dollar trade
The YDSK mechanism between Türkiye and Uzbekistan was established in 2018. Since this date, our bilateral cooperation, which has gained an institutional nature, has become stronger than ever in every field. Our bilateral trade volume which increased three times more after Mirziyoyev took office, maintained its momentum despite the global pandemic.
The current state of our cooperation, which has developed on the basis of our common history, language, belief, civilization and traditions, is pleasing. However, in light of our current potential, we are aware that we still have a long way to go as two sister countries. Therefore, in line with the target set by our leaders, we need to reach a trade volume of 5 billion dollars in the short term and 10 billion dollars in the medium term by removing the barriers to trade.
There is an important potential waiting to be revealed in tourism in the development of relations. In 2022, more than 400 thousand Uzbek brothers and sisters visited Türkiye. Many Turkish citizens visit Uzbekistan for trade, investment, culture and tourism purposes.
Our businessmen, who have successfully completed large-scale contracting works such as the Bosphorus bridge, tunnel, highway, airport, and city hospital in Türkiye, are also undertaking projects in Uzbekistan that make us proud and change the silhouette of the city of Tashkent.
We are ready to deepen cooperation in infrastructure investments
As Uzbekistan develops, new areas of cooperation emerge in many sectors. One of them is the energy sector. As the country with the best irrigated agriculture in Central Asia, Uzbekistan offers significant opportunities for the private sector. Information exchange and experience sharing on agricultural research and development, seed growing, greenhouse cultivation, agricultural tools and equipment, cotton cultivation, fruit and vegetable growing, expert training and innovation with agricultural techniques stand out as the main areas of cooperation.
Türkiye, the investor country with the highest share
In 2022, the volume of fixed capital investments in the Republic of Uzbekistan was around 270 trillion Sum. The share of total foreign investments and loans in this was 41 percent. With a share of 10.1%, Türkiye ranked third among the investor countries with the highest share, after Russia and China.