BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 26
By Ilkin Seyfaddini – Trend:
Transportation routes from Central Asia through the Caspian Sea and further through the Caucasus are becoming especially important, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan, Bakhrom Ashrafkhanov told Trend in an interview.
“In this regard, the widespread use of the Trans-Caucasus Transport Corridor for the transportation of increasing volumes of export-import cargo is in the interests of our states. We also believe that the transport corridor Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, as well as the commissioning of the Baku International Port, establishes new routes to international markets. In this context, we are grateful that the Azerbaijani side is making an effort to form transport corridors and necessary infrastructure,” stressed Ashrafkhanov.
Ashrafkhanov noted that at present, the Uzbek side is carefully analyzing the possibilities of increasing its cargo flow through these corridors and an active negotiation process between the involved structures of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan is underway.
“Recently we have been promoting interregional cooperation, taking into account its important role in bringing our brotherly countries and people together. In this context, we are satisfied with the announcement of Rishtan and Ismayilli as sister cities in 2018. Last year's visit of the delegation of the Bukhara region to Lankaran city, as well as to Lerik, Astara and Masalli districts of Azerbaijan was a continuation of our activities in this direction,” said the ambassador.
He also added that sides will start working on further expansion of interregional cooperation soon.
According to the ambassador, the Uzbek side is pleased that Azerbaijani entrepreneurs have shown great interest in Uzbekistan, given the large-scale transformations taking place in the country.
“As you know, under the leadership of President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, special attention is paid to the creation of a favorable business environment for foreign investors interested in realization of their projects in our country. At the present stage in Uzbekistan has one of the most favorable conditions for investments and starting a business,” stated Ashrafkhanov.
He also added that these conditions are not just the result of economic liberalization but also sign of professionalism and perseverance of Uzbek people
As he said, currently seven projects worth about $80 million are being implemented in Andijan, Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Syrdarya, and Fergana regions of Uzbekistan, as well as in Tashkent city in cooperation with Azerbaijani Embassy.
At the same time, several other investment projects are under consideration, which covers sectors such as construction, agriculture, energy, IT, food, and others.
“In turn, I would like to note that the Uzbek side does not ignore the large-scale transformations taking place in brotherly Azerbaijan. To date, Uzbek companies have shown interest in different spheres of Azerbaijani economy such as car manufacturing, agriculture, IT, textiles industry, electrical engineering, and others,” ambassador Ashrafkhanov pointed out.
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