President of Uzbekistan outlines cooperation priorities at the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State

The President of Uzbekistan outlined priorities for cooperation at the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State

"The summit, chaired by the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, was attended by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, as well as the CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev"

According to the agenda, the participants exchanged views on topical issues of further expanding multilateral cooperation.

In his speech, the head of state congratulated everyone on the significant date – the 35th anniversary of the Commonwealth and emphasized that, despite the ongoing changes, close human relations, a shared history, and the vast potential for cooperation between our countries and peoples remain unchanged.

"Today, the world is changing dramatically. Tension is growing, and customary economic ties are being restructured. In such a situation, it is particularly important to strengthen trust, align positions more frequently, and ensure that our agreements yield real results,"

Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted.

It was emphasized that economic integration and industrial cooperation remain one of the key foundations of stability and development.

To bring the trade and investment partnership to a new level, the need to utilize the collective potential and gradually transition from a simple exchange of goods to the joint creation of full-fledged value chains was pointed out.

The President of Uzbekistan outlined a number of priority areas on which joint efforts should be focused.

First and foremost, this concerns the full functioning of the Free Trade Zone by eliminating technical barriers, mutually recognizing certificates of conformity, and expanding access to public procurement.

In the context of ensuring economic resilience and people's well-being, the importance of food security was highlighted.

In this regard, the expediency of agreeing upon and approving the Agreement on expanding mutual access in the field of public procurement of agricultural products, as well as the Food Security Cooperation Program, as soon as possible was noted. To increase market predictability, it was proposed to introduce an Advance Notification and Consultation Mechanism prior to introducing restrictions on the export of food and fertilizers.