Azernews.Az

Friday March 29 2024

Uzbekistan may boost investment flow from EU through co-op with EPCA

22 November 2019 14:00 (UTC+04:00)
Uzbekistan may boost investment flow from EU through co-op with EPCA

By Trend

Ongoing negotiations between the EU and Uzbekistan for an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) could pave the way for more trade and investment, European Commission’s representative told Trend in an interview.

"The start of European Investment Bank (EIB) operations in Uzbekistan in 2017 to support public and private sector projects in the areas of infrastructure, energy and energy efficiency, and assist SMEs in the country is one of these examples," the representative noted.

According to the official, EU investment flows to Uzbekistan are showing a growing trend.

Uzbekistan's trade relations within the EU are most developed with the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and France, according to Eurostat. The EU imports from Uzbekistan include industrial products, textiles, chemicals, plastics and manufactured goods, making it the fourth largest trading partner of Uzbekistan.

"Gasoline, mining, automotive industry, transport and construction equipment manufacturing, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering are key traditional pillars of the Uzbek economy, with further potential to be untapped, including by EU investors," the representative noted.

As the official added, the textile industry, electricity sector, the telecommunication industry, renewable energy, agriculture and food processing, the banking sector as well as culture, the creative industry and tourism show also good development potential for the future.

"Provided that current economic and administrative reforms, including reform of the judiciary, are successfully carried out, Uzbekistan could become one of the most attractive investment destinations in Central Asia," the representative underlined.

The representative expects that the investment climate will further improve over next years with a growing number of European companies getting a foothold in Uzbekistan.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Loading...
Latest See more