Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

After the current President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power, a new era began in relations between the United States and Uzbekistan.

The Uzbek Embassy in the United States, together with the Washington Intergovernmental Professional Group, held a briefing at the Ronald Reagan World Trade Center.

Representatives of leading business, social, political and cultural-humanitarian circles of the United States, including employees of the Ministry of Commerce, the Chamber of Commerce, which unites more than 300,000 companies, the leadership of the universities of Ohio and Georgetown, experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers and others attended the briefing.

The Uzbek Ambassador to the United States, Javlon Vakhabov, made a detailed presentation about Uzbekistan, revealed investment opportunities, and particularly emphasized the work being done in the republic to increase the investment attractiveness and strengthen Uzbek-American relations in all areas.

Experts paid special attention to the transition of the country's economic model to market mechanisms. It was noted that the country has a free conversion of the national currency.

Uzbekistan has the largest market in Central Asia at 33 million people with a level of education of 97 percent, which is comparable to such economies as Singapore and Spain. The country is actively adapting the advanced experience of developed countries, thereby allowing it to maintain the pace of a rapidly growing national economy.

Uzbekistan is the 9th largest gold producer in the world and ranks 10th in the world in terms of its reserves. The country also has significant reserves of natural gas, copper, uranium, coal and other minerals.

The successful issuance of the first ever Eurobonds in London is proof that international investors believe in Uzbekistan and its development.

The World Bank raised the country's “Doing Business” rating from 166th place in 2012 to 76th - in 2019th. For the first time, international rating agencies Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s assigned Uzbekistan long-term sovereign ratings.

According to the U.S. Department of State, Uzbekistan is a safe country for tourism, which does not require special precautions. The New York Times Journeys has chosen Uzbekistan as one of 52 places for its annual visits.

Following the briefing, an interesting question and answer session was held.

Diplomatic relations between the United States and Uzbekistan were established on February 19, 1992.

Since then, the United States and Uzbekistan have developed a broad-based relationship, cooperating in such areas as border and regional security programs, economic relations, political and civil society issues, and English language training.

Uzbekistan and the United States signed a declaration on Strategic Partnership and the Basics of Cooperation in 2002.

Thanks to active cooperation with American companies, two countries managed to increase the bilateral trade by almost two times and bring it to $332 million in January-September 2018.

Currently, more than 200 enterprises with the participation of U.S. companies are successfully operating in Uzbekistan. American capital took part in the creation of 25 enterprises since the beginning of 2018.

Uzbekistan has signed a trade and investment framework agreement with the United States and other Central Asian countries establishing a regional forum to discuss ways to improve investment climates and expand trade within Central Asia.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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