Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Pakistan Furqat Sidiqov leading a delegation comprising Uzbek diplomats with the agenda to follow up on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s recent visit to Uzbekistan, during a meeting at the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) said that there is immense scope for increasing bilateral trade and instituting joint ventures between the two countries.

He said that Uzbekistan is the biggest and fastest growing economy in Central Asia, particularly advanced in agriculture and a major cotton producer with a very well developed indigenous production of cotton related machinery, which is also one of Pakistan’s primary economic sectors.

The ambassador proposed that the two countries could look at the establishment of joint production facilities. Significant potential for cooperation also exists in the areas such as fertilizers and the agro-chemical industry.

The Uzbek ambassador also expressed his country’s interest in investing in renewable energy projects in Pakistan, especially solar energy.

The PBIT Chairman said that Punjab is Pakistan’s agricultural heartland and is open for collaboration with Uzbekistan in exploring joint ventures. He also assured the ambassador that full details of energy-related projects in Punjab would be shared with the Embassy and complete facilitation would be provided by PBIT to Uzbek investors interested in Punjab’s energy sector.

The Punjab Board of Investment and Trade agreed to share a list of products that Pakistan wished to export to Uzbekistan.

The Uzbek ambassador informed that following Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s successful visit to Uzbekistan in November 2015, the Uzbek government had constituted a special working group to increase bilateral trade between Uzbekistan and Pakistan and explore avenues to enhance economic cooperation.

The special working group under the leadership of the Uzbek minister for industries would visit Pakistan in July. The high-powered delegation would include a number of other senior Uzbek ministers, as well as private businessmen.

PBIT and the Embassy of Uzbekistan agreed to work closely in the period preceding the visit to make it a resounding success and stressed the need to drastically increase the current volume of bilateral trade, which is $40 million.