BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7. Uzbekistan and European Union signed new Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA),Trend reports via Uzbek Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade.
The signing ceremony was held on July 6 this year in Brussels. The event was attended from the Uzbek side - Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov, and from the European side - the head of the Cabinet of the EU High Representative Pedro Serrano.
The new agreement is intended to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Uzbekistan and the EU of 1996 and bring bilateral cooperation to a qualitatively new level.
The current agreement mainly contains provisions on political dialogue, cooperation in the areas of democracy, human rights, promotion of cultural ties, financial and technical cooperation, and investment, trade in goods and services, and protection of intellectual property
The EPCA covers a wider range of issues. These include provisions related to trade and related issues, including customs administration, technical regulation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, competition, dispute resolution and other areas.
The agreement also includes such new areas as foreign policy, security, conflict prevention and crisis management, personal data protection, asylum and border management, combating illegal migration, organized crime and corruption, countering terrorism.
The EPCA will contribute to the further integration of Uzbekistan into the multilateral trading system, strengthening the mechanisms of a market economy, increasing the confidence and interest in the country of foreign investors and business circles, and will also open up new opportunities for domestic producers for trade cooperation with partners from the EU countries.
During the ceremony, the parties noted their mutual readiness to work together to complete the necessary legal procedures for signing the EPCA and its entry into force, and after that, to ensure its full and high-quality practical implementation.