President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister of the Italian Republic Giorgia Meloni held talks in the format of “tete-a-tete” and with the participation of official delegations in the Congress Center of Samarkand city.
The issues of further development of bilateral relations of strategic partnership and expansion of multifaceted cooperation were discussed.
The consistent implementation of the agreements reached during the summit meetings in Rome in June 2023 was noted with satisfaction.
The trade turnover has grown almost 3 times in recent years, including by expanding the range of mutual supplies.
The number of joint ventures and projects has doubled. Mutually beneficial cooperation has been established with leading Italian companies in metallurgy, electrical engineering, agriculture, livestock breeding, tourism and other sectors.
The Uzbek delegation took an active part in the Venice Biennale, and an exhibition was held in Florence. Days of Culture of Uzbekistan were held in Rome and Viareggio last December.
Branches of the Universities of Turin and Pisa are successfully operating in our country. The second Forum of Rectors was fruitfully held in April.
The sides advocated the continuation of active political exchange.
Active interaction with European Union institutions will be maintained, considering the fruitful summit held in Samarkand in April this year. The importance of holding the summit “Central Asia-Italy” with a focus on practical results was emphasized.
An agreement was reached on expanding the programs of technical cooperation to the business in trade sector. This involves training Uzbek exporters to access the EU market, creating a joint Certification center in Tashkent, accelerating adoption of the Conformity assessment agreement.
The Head of our state proposed to launch a Program of technological partnership with the leading companies of Italy.
Priorities include innovative projects of private business, deep processing of critical minerals and agricultural raw materials, production of component bases for the automotive industry, products with a high conversion rate in the electrical engineering, energy, food, pharmaceutical, construction industries, creation of design centers for textile, leather, and furniture industries.
Such projects can be located in a designated industrial park to be created in Tashkent region under the management of a European operator.
To launch new project support mechanisms, the issue of creating a joint investment fund will be considered, as well as the involvement of the Italian state agencies “SACE” and “SIMEST”.
Special attention was paid to the development of full-scale scientific and technological cooperation in agriculture on the basis of a comprehensive “road map”. The prospects for cooperation in the cultivation of grapes, saffron olives, asparagus, creation of agro-laboratories, development of biotechnology and introduction of agricultural insurance were noted.
In order to promote new projects it was agreed to resume the work of the Intergovernmental Group and hold its meeting with a business forum.
Within the framework of expanding partnership relations between the regions of Uzbekistan and Italy, the importance of achieving practical results during the forthcoming visit of Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana and the first forum of the regions was emphasized.
In the educational sphere, plans to launch in our country a branch of the University of Tuscia, double degree programs with the universities of Pisa, Trento, Roma Tre and Ca Foscari were supported in our country.
An agreement has been reached on holding Days of Italian Culture in Uzbekistan.
The signing of an agreement on labor migration aimed at organizing systemic cooperation in this sphere during the current visit was noted with satisfaction.
As a result of the meeting, it was decided to prepare a comprehensive road map for the implementation of the agreements reached.
