Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 8 May 2020, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov held talks with the Advisor to the Prime Minister for Investment, Industry and the Private Sector of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh S. Rahman, as well as the Minister of commerce T. Munshi and Minister of Textiles and Jute G. Gazi.

During the dialogue, the parties identified significant prospects for cooperation in the investment sphere - mainly in the textile and pharmaceutical industries. They discussed the prospects of creating joint textile clusters, as well as attracting leading experts from Bangladesh as consultants on the development of the textile industry in Uzbekistan.

There is also great potential for industrial cooperation in the pharmaceutical industry - in this area, cooperation between the Agency for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry of Bangladesh will be strengthened.

The importance of further expanding the range of delivered commodity items demanded in the markets of the two countries in the agricultural, chemical and electrical industries was noted. Taking measures to increase their supplies will significantly increase the volume of mutual trade to a new level.

The parties agreed to intensify the joint elaboration of a number of bilateral documents, including the Agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and the Agreement on cooperation in the field of plant quarantine.

Special attention was paid to cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sphere - an agreement was reached on establishing close ties between the Silk Road International University of Tourism in Samarkand and the Jahangir Nagar University in Dhaka. The possibilities of cooperation in the field of tourism, in particular in the framework of the pilgrimage program “Umrah +”, as well as the organization of festivals of culture and art of Uzbekistan and Bangladesh in both countries were also considered.

Separately, the pandemic and the measures taken by countries to minimize the negative consequences affecting the further realization of investment and trade potential were discussed on the agenda.

Following the talks, it was agreed to create a joint Working Group at the level of deputy heads of foreign economic departments of the two countries to coordinate issues of development of cooperation in the fields of trade, investment and transport in the framework of the indicated areas.