Doha, Qatar: President of Uzbekistan H E Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s visit to Qatar comes to develop bilateral relations and move them to comprehensive and broad strategic partnerships in various fields.
Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will welcome the Uzbek President at the Amiri Diwan today to discuss relations between the two friendly countries and ways to support and enhance them in various sectors, and to sign a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding, as well as discussing a number of current regional and international issues of common interest.
President of Uzbekistan’s visit to Doha is important, as it comes about four months after H H the Amir made a state visit to Uzbekistan in June, as part of his tour to a number of Central Asian countries, which confirms the desire and keenness of the two countries’ leaderships to advance bilateral relations towards new and promising horizons, especially in the economic and trade fields, and ambitious investment partnerships that serve the interests of the two countries and their friendly peoples.
During his visit to Uzbekistan in June 2023, the Amir held a session of official talks with the President of Uzbekistan at the Congress Center in Samarkand. During the session, they discussed the existing friendship and bilateral relations between the two countries and means of enhancing and developing them in various fields. The Amir and the President also discussed ways to implement investment and trade plans between the two countries, in addition to the events and developments in regional and international arenas.
The Amir and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev witnessed the signing ceremony of a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding and cooperation between the governments of the two countries on the encouragement and protection of investments, trade, the avoidance of double taxation, recruiting workers, exemption from travel visa requirements for holders of diplomatic passports, cooperation in the field of higher education and scientific research, cooperation between the ministries of foreign affairs and justice in the two countries, and cooperation in the fields of youth and sports, culture, municipal affairs, agriculture and food security, plant protection and agricultural quarantine. A letter of intent between the governments of the two countries for joint cooperation in the field of investment was also signed.
The diplomatic relations between Doha and Tashkent were established in November 1997 by signing a protocol to forge diplomatic relations between the two countries at the ambassadorial level. Since then, the governments of the two countries have been engaging in laying the foundation and the joint principles for their relations in accordance with the international law, human rights and the United Nations’ charter.
The two countries have good and excellent relations at all levels, including the political relations that open doors for further development in trade and economic fields.
Cooperation between the two sides in the political, economic, commercial, investment, cultural and humanitarian fields has witnessed an growing development during the recent years, thanks to the will of the two countries’ leaderships to consolidate these ties and develop them in all fields in the service of common ambitions and interests, as well as security, peace and stability in the region and the world.
The Qatari and Uzbek leaderships are committed to maintaining the interest-based cooperation in multiple areas, especially within the framework of regional and international organizations, including OIC, , the UN and other entities, as the two leaderships look forward to developing a comprehensive and long-term cooperation, along with developing bilateral relations based on mutual respect.
The Qatari-Uzbek ties are based on a series of agreements and memoranda of understanding in numerous fields, as shared visits between the two countries at various levels by senior officials and trade and economic delegations have largely contributed to developing relations and increasing coordination between them in the political, economic, trade, medical and other fields.
In the context of enhancing existing cooperation between the two countries, Qatar participated in the 2nd Tashkent International Investment Forum in April, and its delegation was headed by Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry H E Sultan bin Rashid Al Khater. Uzbekistan is a landlocked Islamic republic located in Central Asia, with an area of 448,900 sq km and a population of over 36 million, occupying a prominent place that makes it a crucial gate for a market that includes over 300 million consumers. Previously, Uzbekistan’s economy has been primarily depending on commodities exports, especially cotton, gold, gas and oil, however, the vision of the country’s president for future intends to plan for much more diversity.
Uzbekistan has very high potential in the renewable energy sector, especially solar and wind energy, and has signed 21 agreements during the past five years with international companies to build solar and wind energy plants at a cost of more than $9bn. Global investments in Uzbekistan grew ten times in the past six years, while the wide-ranging reforms by the government that commenced in 2017 led to the economy’s openness and had subsequently attracted foreign capital while the number of investors pivoting towards Uzbekistan is increasing.
Source: Zawya
