On December 11, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council session, via videoconference.
The event, which was chaired by President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, was also attended by Honorary Chairman of the Council, First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Acting President of the Kyrgyz Republic Talant Mamytov and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.
President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon attended the meeting as head of the observer state to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), as well as invited President of the Republic of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez.
In accordance with the agenda of the summit, the issue of granting the Republic of Uzbekistan observer status in the EAEU, as well as current aspects of further development of multifaceted cooperation within the framework of this Union were considered.
In his speech, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, expressing sincere gratitude for supporting Uzbekistan’s application for obtaining the observer status, highlighted the growing international authority of the organization and wide geography of its practical cooperation with foreign countries.
It was emphasized that in the context of the ongoing important stage of large-scale socio-economic reforms, Uzbekistan is committed to consistently increasing and strengthening trade-economic and investment cooperation with all international partners, including the development of dialogue with the Eurasian Economic Union.
This is due to the following key factors.
EAEU countries are, first of all, main trading partners of Uzbekistan. In recent years, Uzbekistan’s trade turnover with the Union states has doubled.
The economies of the countries complement each other in many ways, as evidenced by the established effective cooperation and more than a thousand new joint ventures in various sectors of the economy.
Transport communications and infrastructure of Uzbekistan and EAEU countries are deeply integrated and closely interrelated.
In addition, today mutually beneficial relations within the framework of vast Eurasian region are characterized by high mobility of labor resources.
The Head of the state called for full use of huge potential of the countries’ economies, joint elimination of barriers and obstacles in trade relations and mutual formation of new markets.
Interest in deepening industrial cooperation, as well as formation of sustainable value chains based on best practices and innovative approaches was noted.
Special attention was paid to the importance of developing coordinated approaches in transport and transit, which will allow even more actively use the transport corridors, increase their competitiveness and significantly increase the load.
The importance of close cooperation in labor migration, which will help solve many current issues of employment and meet the growing needs of the country’s economies for qualified specialists, was noted.
All the above-mentioned factors led to the approval of the proposal by the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan on cooperation between Uzbekistan and the Eurasian Economic Union in the status of an observer state.
It was noted that this will allow to enter a qualitatively new stage of practical and multifaceted interaction, to better understand the important process taking place within framework of the Union.
The Head of the state emphasized that the development of such partnership should meet the national interests of the countries, be based on the principles of equality, mutual benefit and consideration of each other’s interests.
Following the summit, leaders of EAEU member states made a unanimous decision to grant the Republic of Uzbekistan observer status at the organization.
