Trade between Grodno Oblast of Belarus with Uzbekistan in 2023 increased by 11%, Grodno Oblast governor Vladimir Karanik told reporters after a meeting with Charge d’Affaires of Uzbekistan in Belarus Rakhmatulla Nazarov, BelTA has learned.
“Today we summed up the results of our cooperation. We have a lot to be proud of. At the moment, Uzbekistan ranks third in the trade of Grodno Oblast with foreign countries. Moreover, 2022 marked a significant increase in trade – by 1.7 times. Our task was to build on the momentum. We are pleased to note that we have succeeded. This year shows a further increase in trade by another 11%,” Vladimir Karanik said.
Major exports of Grodno Oblast to Uzbekistan are food, woodworking products, petrochemicals. The Belarusian region buys food, yarn, fabrics, textiles which are very much in demand among local light industry enterprises.
“Exchange and cooperation in education is very active: 160 students from Uzbekistan are currently enrolled in the universities in Grodno Oblast. Representatives of the Republic of Uzbekistan laud the high quality of education and also very friendly attitude relations and safety in Grodno Oblast and in the country as a whole,” the head of the region said.
The governor added: “We have also outlined the prospects for the development of our cooperation. This applies both to traditional areas where we still have the potential to tap in, and to new areas of cooperation. If we take the non-material sphere, these include tourism, culture, and the further development of cooperation in education. In the real sector of the economy, Uzbekistan has an interest in our mechanical engineering goods. On our part we are interested in the supply of fruits, which Uzbekistan is famous for. There is interest in further investments. This is an interesting topic, because there is both a Belarusian-Uzbek joint venture that operates in Uzbekistan, and there are also large investors from Uzbekistan who are implementing an investment project in the Grodnoinvest free economic zone.
Summing up, Vladimir Karanik noted that the task of government bodies is to provide the real sector of the economy with an opportunity to ensure mutual investments and to solve emerging problems. He stressed that at the moment there are no such problems, and the potential for cooperation is very high.
Source: BELTA