Exclusive Interview of Saudi Ambassador to Uzbekistan

Interview of Saudi Ambassador to Uzbekistan by Bekhruz Khudoyberdiyev of UzA

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev paying an official visit to Saudi Arabia to attend the First Summit of Heads of State in the “Central Asia – Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf” format

On the eve of the visit, an UzA Correspondent interviewed the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Uzbekistan Yousef Saleh Algahrah Al-Otaibi about the current state of relations, the results of last year’s visit, as well as issues that will be discussed at the upcoming meeting.

Question No.1: Dear Mr. Ambassador, first of all, I would like to know your opinion on the current state of relations between Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia, in general, on the priorities of our cooperation today…

Answer: Interaction between Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan can be described as impeccable. Our ties are strong and built on mutual respect and trust. The leaders of both countries recognize the importance of developing and strengthening relations to realize their aspirations. After the visit of His Excellency President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to our country, we are seeing a significant development of mutual dialogue. During last year’s visit, many agreements and memorandums of understanding were signed between the two countries. On the other hand, significant progress has been made in bilateral relations over the past two years. After the business forum in Bukhara on January 23, 2021, our cooperation, particularly economic partnership, has developed rapidly. If we focus on the priority areas of collaboration between the two countries, we can see that the scope of interaction has expanded due to the visits made in recent years. During this period, visits of various levels and major conferences were organized in several areas. The parties expressed their desire to continue a mutually beneficial dialogue and to support each other within the framework of international and regional organizations.

Question No.2: The successful implementation of the State Program “Vision-2030” in Saudi Arabia is currently at the center of public attention worldwide. In particular, Uzbekistan also highly appreciates the importance of this program. After all, as you know, the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026 has been defined in our country, aimed at transforming all spheres of public life. What are the similarities or differences between the “Vision-2030” State Program and the New Uzbekistan Development Strategy?

Answer: Undoubtedly, the Kingdom’s program “Vision-2030” is aimed at implementing comprehensive reforms, in particular, at creating effective state institutions to diversify the economy and improve social life and the standard of living in the country. The Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan covers 7 areas, such as the development of civil society, economy, education, improvement of the judicial system, and others. In this sense, there is much in common between the “Vision-2030” State Program and the New Uzbekistan Development Strategy. The population of our country has exceeded 70 million people. From this point of view, it is gratifying that relations aimed at improving the well-being of our people are being strengthened and developed based on the instructions and mutual attention of the heads of the two states. I would like to note that the level of cooperation in several areas is increasing in the name of common interests. In particular, negotiations are underway on agriculture, industry, enlightenment, education, and other areas. All this reflects the desire to expand business people’s communication and use the available opportunities.

Question No.3: Effective efforts are being made to enhance economic cooperation, especially in energy and petrochemicals. Today, major energy projects worth $2 billion 600 million are being implemented with ACWA Power. In the chemical industry, cooperation has been established with SABIC. How justified are these efforts? Is it possible to speak in advance about the expected results?

Answer: Of course, the private sector strengthens ties in the investment and economic spheres. Many Saudi investors work in Uzbekistan. The largest company, ACWA Power, has invested $7.5 billion in your country. The company has many plans.

Question No. 4: During our conversation, I would like to mention the historic state visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Saudi Arabia last August. A year has passed since then. To what extent are the agreements reached due to negotiations at the highest level being implemented? If you remember, our President said:

“I am sure today’s historic meeting will serve as a powerful impetus to enrich our cooperation and strengthen business ties”. What could you say about the result of this “impetus”?

Answer: The historic visit of Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the Kingdom on August 17-18, 2022, made a huge contribution to developing and strengthening bilateral relations. During the visit, His Excellency met with the Crown Prince, Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. During the dialogue, the issue of developing friendship between the two fraternal countries in various fields was discussed. As a result, many documents were signed. At the same time, an agreement was reached on coordinating cooperation within the framework of international and regional organizations and on regular support to each other. The Kingdom expressed gratitude to the Government of Uzbekistan for supporting the holding of Expo 2030 in Riyadh. The Uzbek side also supports the Green Saudi Arabia and Green Middle East initiatives.

Question No. 5: What results are expected from the visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Saudi Arabia and bilateral negotiations?

Answer: This time, as part of his visit to the Kingdom, the Leader of Uzbekistan will participate in the Summit of Heads of State in the “Central Asia – Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf” format. This strategic dialogue is based on the realization that cooperation between the leaders of the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf and the countries of Central Asia is important for ensuring common development in politics, economics, security, and trade, striving to expand existing ties in all areas further. The strategic nature of the dialogue also reflects the views of the leaders of the participating countries. Leaders recognize the importance of building a common platform. This process involves increasing the opportunity to use the unique characteristics of each country in various fields. The issue of further development of cooperation will be considered at the meeting of the President with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. In addition, during the visit, an exchange of views will take place on the implementation of the documents signed in August 2022.

Question No. 6: Our last question is traditional: could you briefly touch upon the plans and prospects for joint relations between the two friendly fraternal peoples, please?

Answer: Both sides monitor the implementation of the signed agreements during visits at various levels. At the same time, regular negotiations on signing new contracts are underway in several areas. We try to ensure consistency in responsible persons’ relationships to stimulate interaction development. The activities of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission play an invaluable role in developing relations. This Commission is chaired by the Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih and the Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov. The last round of consultations took place in March 2022. Work is underway to prepare for the 6th round of talks of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission in the last quarter of this year.

At the same time, it should be recognized that the Joint Intergovernmental Commission and the Business Council help to solve the problems facing the public and private sectors and overcome difficulties. We hope that thanks to the support of our leaders, the number of investment projects aimed at improving the welfare of the two fraternal peoples will increase in the future. In conclusion, I would like to note once again the successful reforms carried out since December 2016 under the leadership of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. His Excellency is very actively working to develop relations with the Kingdom. The work carried out in the next two years to strengthen cooperation between our countries is much more significant than in the previous 20 years.

Dear Mr. Ambassador, thank you for the interesting and meaningful conversation before the visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Saudi Arabia.