S Kazakhstan Governor meets Uzbek delegation
At the meeting, the head of the region highlighted that the first meeting of the business council and the joint business forum is taking place in our region in the month of Ramadan holy for all Muslims around the world, and also expressed confidence that today's meeting will continue the joint efforts for effective and productive cooperation.
"Our region shares border with Uzbekistan and this is a very crucial factor for the region and for the country as a whole, providing us with great opportunities to develop bilateral relations within all economic sectors of the economy. The heads of state of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan declared 2018 as the Year of Uzbekistan in Kazakhstan. Cross-border cooperation is actively developing between our region and Uzbekistan. On 15th and 16th September 2017, Tashkent hosted the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan Business Forum. Over 150 state-owned and private companies of South Kazakhstan took part in that forum. Within the framework of the forum, memorandums of mutual understanding in the trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres were signed between the South Kazakhstan regional administration and the administrations of Tashkent, Syrdarya, and Jizzakh regions," Tuimebayev underlined.
Alongside this, the sides discussed issues of further development of trade and economic relations, and joint systematic work aimed at increasing the trade turnover between the two countries.
In turn, the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan Adkham Ikramov expressed confidence that the friendly relations between the two countries, as well as trade and economic ties between South Kazakhstan entrepreneurs and Uzbek entrepreneurs, will continue enhancing.
It is worth emphasizing that Uzbekistan is Kazakhstan's largest trading partner in Central Asia, the foreign trade turnover between countries in Q1 2018 grew by 50% as compared to a year earlier. By the end of the year, taking into account the considerable potential for mutual trade increase, the bilateral trade is expected to reach $3 billion.
At the end of the meeting, the governor of the region expressed his readiness to fully support Uzbek companies' initiatives aimed at developing business in the southern region.
It should be mentioned that an exhibition of textile products "South Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan" was held in Shymkent on 11th and 12th May. About 60 manufacturing enterprises of South Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that are engaged in light industry, textiles, clothing and leather products, pharmaceuticals, furniture, souvenirs, sports goods and toys took part in the exhibition.