The President received Lord Anas Sarwar

**President receives Lord Anas Sarwar**

On October 9, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev received the UK Minister of State for Trade, Lord Anas Sarwar, who arrived in our country to participate in the second meeting of the Uzbekistan–British Economic Committee.

At the beginning of the conversation, Lord Sarwar conveyed the warm greetings and a special letter from the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Andy Burnham, to the head of our state.

The parties discussed issues of further expanding mutually beneficial partnership, primarily in the trade and economic direction.

The rapid development of political dialogue and the intensification of exchanges at all levels were noted with satisfaction. Productive cooperation has been established in the field of security.

It was emphasized that the volume of mutual trade is growing. 260 joint ventures are successfully operating in our country.

The first IPO of the National Investment Fund of Uzbekistan was successfully carried out on the London Stock Exchange. Standard Chartered Bank is operating in the financial sector, and British Petroleum is active in the oil and gas sector.

Three joint higher education institutions have been established, and Presidential schools have been launched in cooperation with Cambridge University. The number of British tourists is also increasing.

The importance of promoting new projects in infrastructure development, energy, finance, geology, transport, education, healthcare, and other fields, including with the participation of the UK Export Finance (UKEF) agency, was noted.

The British side expressed readiness to assist in establishing an International Financial Center in the city of Tashkent, operating on the principles of "English law."

At the conclusion of the meeting, an agreement was reached on adopting a joint "road map" for the further development of multifaceted cooperation.