Pakistan, Uzbekistan sign $1 billion trade deal in Tashkent

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Uzbekistan on Friday signed a $1 billion trade agreement to encourage the exchange of goods and services between the two countries while promising to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation, said an official statement.
The deal was signed by finance minister Ishaq Dar and his Uzbek counterpart Laziz Kudratov during the eighth session of Pakistan-Uzbekistan Inter-governmental Commission (IGC) on trade, economy, scientific and technical cooperation held in Tashkent.
The two countries have shared diplomatic relations since the independence of Uzbekistan from former Soviet Union in 1991, though economic cooperation has only increased more recently.
Last year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif underscored the significance of enhancing bilateral political ties and fast-tracking economic cooperation with the Central Asian states by fully operationalizing the Uzbekistan-Pakistan transit and preferential trade agreements.
“The eighth meeting of the Pakistan-Uzbekistan Inter-governmental Commission on Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation (IGC) was held in Tashkent on February 24th, 2023,” said a statement issued by the Economic Affairs Division. “Both countries signed a one billion trade agreement to encourage the exchange of goods and services.”
During the meeting, the two ministers discussed bilateral economic cooperation in various sectors, including investment, banking, energy, tourism, transportation and natural resources.
The two sides also mentioned the vastly untapped bilateral investment potential, the statement added.
The IGC recognized the importance of closer collaboration between the two countries in order to bring sustainable development through technology, innovation and economic partnership.
During the meeting, the two sides agreed to hold the ninth meeting of the commission in Pakistan next year.