President of Uzbekistan receives US delegation
Tashkent, The Gulf Observer: On March 1, 2023, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev received a delegation of the United States of America headed by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
A wide range of topical issues on the agenda of bilateral relations in the political, trade, economic, investment, educational, cultural and humanitarian spheres, as well as key aspects of regional cooperation were considered.
At the beginning of the conversation, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken conveyed greetings and best wishes of the President of the United States Joe Biden to the Head of Uzbekistan.
The resolute commitment of the United States to support the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Uzbekistan was once again emphasized. The high assessment was given and full support was expressed for the irreversible democratic transformations and socio-economic reforms being carried out in Uzbekistan.
The great progress in the field of ensuring human rights and gender equality, combating forced labor, reforms in the field of freedom of speech and media support, the development of civil society institutions and many other areas was particularly noted.
During the meeting, the high level of Uzbek-American multifaceted relations was noted with great satisfaction.
The importance of further development of full-scale cooperation was confirmed, including in the framework of promoting an effective Dialogue of strategic partnership and continuing productive exchanges at different levels.
Particular attention is paid to increasing trade, economic, investment and innovation cooperation, expanding the presence of leading American companies in the Uzbek market, implementing cooperation projects, primarily in high-tech industries.
There are ample opportunities for activating cultural and humanitarian ties, including programs in the field of learning English by the younger generation and training qualified teachers in Uzbekistan.
The sides exchanged views on the most important issues of regional cooperation. The practical results of the ministerial meeting in the format of “US and Central Asian countries” (C5+1) were positively assessed.
Such areas as promoting sustainable development of the countries of the region, improving the business environment and investment climate, developing green energy, and implementing joint educational programs were highlighted.
The great importance is attached to the upcoming meeting of the Trade & Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), which will be held this month in the city of Samarkand.
The issues of broad international cooperation in the peaceful settlement in Afghanistan were also discussed.
A unanimous opinion was expressed on the inadmissibility of the escalation of the situation and the expansion of the humanitarian crisis in this country, the need to actively use the UN platform to develop an algorithm for solving existing problems, as well as the importance of supporting regional infrastructure projects to promote peace and restore the Afghan economy.
