BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 11. Economic and investment ties between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are expanding steadily, but still fall short of their full potential, said Deputy Governor of Tashkent Rakhmanov Sharof, as he addressed the panel session 'Azerbaijan – Uzbekistan: Vector of Economic Partnership' within the IV Tashkent International Investment Forum, Trend reports.
"If we talk about specific numbers, I will give examples that we have to mention, of course, that in Tashkent we have a function of about 200 enterprises with Azerbaijani capitals. And at least the same number of our enterprises have been registered in Baku," he said.
He emphasized the ambition on both sides to expand trade and cooperation to new levels. "It is visible to us that these numbers can increase and can be much higher than they are — on the level of billions USD," he added.
Sharof also pointed to strong tourism flows between the two countries. "Every single year Tashkent is being visited by almost 10,000 Azerbaijani tourists. And a lot of our Uzbek tourists are visiting Azerbaijan as well".
One of the highlights of his speech was the announcement of two major projects: the construction of national centers in each capital. "Entrepreneurs from Azerbaijan and entrepreneurs from Uzbekistan will have priorities and bring to life two very big projects that will show and depict our countries — the buildings of the centers of Uzbekistan in Baku and the center of Azerbaijan in Tashkent," Sharof said.
The project is already moving forward. "During our delegated visit [to Baku], we had very fruitful discussions with the administration of Baku, and we have already brought up specific territories where we will be building this center," he said. "Hopefully, in the very close time we will meet our Azerbaijani friends here in Tashkent and discuss the location of the Azeri center here in Tashkent. Right now I can tell you that the location has already been located".