Uzbekistan Envoy Speaks To Gulf Observer

Islamabad, The Gulf Observer: The Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Pakistan, H.E. Aybek Arif Usmanov has said that the Connectivity and Reconnectivity of Pakistan and Uzbekistan is the major milestone for bringing the two great regions that have historically always been related to each other. Uzbekistan and Pakistan, since last four years have become the locomotives, the main points for bringing the Eurasian connectivity into the real being.

Both the countries are having a very clear action plan to how to make their trade upto $ half a billion and $ one billion in future:Aybek Arif Usmanov

Both the countries first signed the Transit Trade Agreement and the next step taken by the two governments was to sign the Preferential Trade Agreement, so the trade connectivity become the first for the two countries and that he is proud to say that three years back our trade was just more than forty five million US dollars but now Al-Hamdullillah during the last year we have recorded 250 million dollars which is a proof that there is a big potential for the growth, since the Transit Trade and Preferential Trade Agreements coming into force.

It means that we are having a very clear action plan that how to make this trade upto half billion and one billion in future.

This was he stated in an exclusive interview for the Gulf Observer.

Says many Pakistani transit and transport companies are having a close cooperation with Uzbek and Afghan transport and logistic companies so by making trilateral transit and logistic companies will definitely boost and facilitate better transit of the goods between the two companies

The Ambassador added that during the last Joint Ministerial Commission between Uzbekistan and Pakistan wherein the cochairman, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance, Mr.Ishaq Dar was leading the Pakistan delegation and from the Uzbek side was led by the Minister of Investments, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan Dr.Laziz Kudratov, signed a very important action plan, the road map which was embracing a mechanism to increase the trade between our two countries up to one billion dollars in the coming years , Insha Allah.

The second connectivity tool and driver of course, is industrial cooperation. During the last Joint Ministerial Commission, it was stated that we have already pharmaceutical plans, we have already textile plans and we have chemical plans in Uzbekistan which are the joint ventures between the two countries and these are the exemplary projects of the industrial cooperation.

Uzbekistan is now ready to make investment in Pakistan in electronics, electro-technical goods and agricultural machineries can be the first and that youth investment projects to come into Pakistan, he further said.

Adds whatever we are doing between Uzbekistan and Pakistan is not only just for the two countries or for Afghanistan but for the South Asian, Central Asian regions and even beyond the Central Asian region

The Uzbek envoy went on to say that the next one of course will be the logistic connectivity, we are having many Pakistani transit and transport companies which are having a close cooperation with Uzbek and Afghan transport and logistic companies so by making trilateral transit and logistic companies will definitely boost and facilitate better transit of the goods between our two companies.

Actually whatever we are doing between Uzbekistan and Pakistan is not only just for the two countries or for Afghanistan only but it is also for the South Asian, Central Asian regions and even beyond the Central Asian region. Because from Uzbekistan and Pakistan the goods may go very freely to the CIS countries as well as the gulf countries because of the great opportunity of multimodal transit and logistic opportunities.

So, of course another milestone in our cooperation might be the construction/building materials, the textile projects, chemical and leather projects and both the countries can cooperate with each other in tourism.

In the Joint Ministerial Commission meeting in Uzbekistan the two co-chairmen and members of the two governments also discussed the banking, since we have already an MoU between the Central Bank of Uzbekistan and the State Bank of Pakistan for opening the new branches and using opportunities of scope for barter trade, he stated.

So of course, the agricultural cooperation is the new avenue for the two countries where the R & D can be done in selection, in livestock, cattle from Uzbekistan and cattle in Pakistan which can be very beneficial for both the sides.

To a question, the Ambassador said that we are having a new avenue of our cooperation between region to region. Already for the last two years, Punjab province of Pakistan is reconnected to Namangan province of Uzbekistan.

In the next step which we have already started will be between the Khyber-Paktoonkha province of Pakistan and the Surkhandarya region with Termez city of Uzbekistan wherein trade, transit centres and free zones of the two provinces can compensate each other and cooperate with trade and commerce chambers of the two regions to derive benefits.

Then the next step will be for sure for the Sindh and Balochistan provinces, who might be finding partners in Uzbekistan.

So region to region, intra-regional cooperation is one of the important drivers and the tools to enhance the connectivity between the two countries.

Al-Hamdullilah, the two governments, the two Embassies are working very hard to make it possible so that the two countries entrepreneurs and businessmen can work on air, road and industrial connectivity.

At the end I would like to express my gratitude for the The Gulf Observer, I am very grateful for all the mass media in Pakistan, Uzbekistan for making an excellent coverage of the ongoing cooperation which will definitely attract our young generation to be the new entrepreneurs and to be the new Ambassadors for the expansion of beneficial and brotherly relations between the two countries in the years to come.