25.01.2024

As part of the business program of the state visit to the People's Republic of China, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev together with the Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Party Committee Huang Kunming participated in the Joint Investment Forum held in the city of Shenzhen.

During his state visit to China in May last year, the Uzbek Leader held such meetings with leading representatives of business, finance and investment circles in China. The groundbreaking agreements reached during these contacts allowed for a significant expansion of the trade, economic and investment partnership between our countries.

Continuing this fruitful dialogue was the recent Investment Forum, which brought together departmental and regional leaders from both countries, as well as over 600 representatives of major companies in China. Among them were top management from Chinese companies such as National Petroleum Corporation, National Chemical Engineering Corporation, Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, China Energy, Gezhouba Group, China CAMC Engineering, Huawei Technologies, SANY Renewable Energy, BYD Auto Industry, Xinjiang Hualing Group, ZTE, TBEA, Universal Energy, China Development Bank, State Development Bank, China Exim Bank and many others.

At the opening of the Forum, the Head of State warmly welcomed all participants and stressed the symbolism of holding the Forum in the city of Shenzhen, which is rightly regarded as the innovation capital of China.

“Today, the dynamic development of comprehensive and mutually beneficial relations between our countries is mainly due to economic cooperation”, - the President pointed out.

Yesterday's fruitful negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping were marked by deep satisfaction. Among the results were agreements to support and create favourable conditions for business representatives from both countries.

This will also be facilitated by the adopted historic document - the Joint Declaration of the leaders of the two countries, which elevates Uzbek-Chinese relations to the level of all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership.

The President of Uzbekistan emphasised the dynamic growth rates and the volume of trade, economic and investment cooperation between the two countries.

The volume of bilateral trade has doubled in recent years, reaching a record high of US$14 billion in 2023. The head of state once again highlighted the opportunities to increase this indicator to 20 billion in the coming years, including through the expansion of mutual supplies of agricultural and industrial products, as well as the conclusion of a new intergovernmental agreement on the establishment of preferential trade for certain types of products.

Today, the total volume of Chinese investment has exceeded US$14 billion. The number of companies with Chinese capital has tripled.

The first interregional forum and industrial exhibition in Urumqi, where important investment agreements were signed the day before, was highly appreciated by the President of Uzbekistan.

He emphasised his readiness to give this business platform a systematic character and to hold the next forum in Uzbekistan. Our Leader also welcomed plans to establish a permanent Council of Regions between the two countries.

It is well known that in the new Uzbekistan structural changes are being implemented to liberalise the economy and introduce market mechanisms.

A fund has been set up to support projects to produce high-tech industrial products. As of this month, an "industrial mortgage" will be introduced, under which land and production areas will be transferred to investors in the form of a "ready-made business".

It should be noted that great attention is being paid to accelerating the privatisation processes of large banks, industrial and infrastructural objects, as well as to the implementation of public-private partnership mechanisms.

Stressing the importance of mobilising joint efforts to promote new projects and initiatives, the Head of State outlined other priorities and prospective directions of cooperation.

These include expanding partnerships with Chinese companies, introducing a simplified process for attracting funding from China's financial institutions for infrastructure development projects, and industrial cooperation in priority sectors of the economy, including deep processing of strategic raw materials.

In addition, special emphasis will be placed on attracting advanced Chinese technologies in sustainable agriculture and implementing scientific approaches to land reclamation and the cultivation of salt-tolerant crops.

Important directions include the further development of the strategic partnership in the field of "green" energy and the participation of Chinese companies in the privatisation programme.

In this context, the agreements reached with Chinese partners to expand the investment portfolio of projects and programmes for infrastructure development and industrial cooperation are welcomed.

It is also emphasised that the strong momentum of successful activities of Chinese partners in Uzbekistan will be given by the decisions taken during the current visit to expand project financing by leading Chinese banks, the opening of a representative office of the Export-Import Bank and the establishment of a new investment platform with the Silk Road Fund.

- Another innovation is the appointment of a dedicated investment manager for each Chinese partner. We firmly believe that this will open up new opportunities for Chinese companies to successfully implement projects," said the President.

The Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, Huang Kunming, also delivered a welcome speech to the participants of the Business Forum.

He expressed his full support for the irreversible reforms being carried out by the President of our country and, noting the significant opportunities in Uzbekistan, called on the Chinese business community to take an even more active part in the implementation of mutually beneficial projects in our country.

At the end of the business forum, a substantial package of documents was signed for the implementation of projects in the fields of energy, oil and gas, mining, electrical engineering, light industry, machinery, infrastructure development, agriculture, education, transport and logistics.

For each project, a roadmap will be developed with designated managers.

In conclusion, the President of Uzbekistan proposed the annual organization of the Guangdong Investment Forum and suggested that the next meeting be held next year in the city of Samarkand.