BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 24. Uzbekistan needs to increase trade turnover with Azerbaijan, Minister of Investments, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov said at the first Uzbek-Azerbaijani Interregional Forum, Trend reports via the Uzbek media.
According to Kudratov, Uzbekistan has set itself the task of increasing the volume of bilateral trade with Azerbaijan to $1 billion over the next five years.
The minister added that Uzbekistan plans to increase the volume of imports from Azerbaijan to $500 million, and exports to $600 million.
The first Uzbek-Azerbaijani Interregional Forum is being held in Tashkent on February 23-24. During the forum, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan signed an intergovernmental agreement on the establishment of a $500 million joint investment fund.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan amounted to $181.9 million in 2022. Exports from Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan over the past year totaled $132.3 million, while imports accounted for $49.5 million.
In January 2023 alone, the trade turnover between the two countries exceeded $11 million.