BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 5
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
India and Uzbekistan are working on a bilateral investment treaty, which would serve to reassure the investors and enterprises to set up their operations in Uzbekistan, Ambassador of India to Uzbekistan Manish Prabhat told Trend commenting on projects implemented for the attraction of Indian investors to Uzbekistan.
According to the information, both India and Uzbekistan have jointly agreed at the level of their leaders that bilateral trade needs to reach the figure of $1 billion per year.
"Our current volume of bilateral trade is about $350 million which is much below its true potential," the ambassador noted.
Prabhat also outlined that traders and business communities from both sides would also be happy to know that India and Uzbekistan have jointly been working upon a joint feasibility study which will pave the way for opening negotiations for a bilateral preferential trade agreement.
In addition, India has also offered a $1 billion concessional lines of credit for implementing development projects in Uzbekistan in various sectors such as the building of roads, sewerage systems, use of IT equipment in education, etc.
"These projects also have the potential to strengthen our bilateral trade and economic ties and would further develop the platform of cooperation to encourage partnership between Indian companies and Uzbek companies.
In turn, the Uzbek government has welcomed the Indian investors and has plans to attract Indian investment in various regions of Uzbekistan.
According to the ambassador, there are ongoing investment projects in various fields, including hospitals, pharmaceuticals, hospitality, residential complexes, and Indian investors have also expressed interest in infrastructure development, including in cargo complexes and airports in Uzbekistan.
"Indian companies will be particularly interested in the fields of information technology, e-governance and digitization, textiles, automotive, engineering goods, agriculture and food processing, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals. Both India and Uzbekistan are excited about the prospects of bilateral cooperation in these fields and would like it to be mutually beneficial," Prabhat added.
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