MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. Moscow and Tashkent are developing cooperation, despite attempts by other countries to cause discord between them, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Monday. He was speaking at a meeting of a joint commission at the level of heads of government of Russia and Uzbekistan.

"Together we are intensively developing trade and economic cooperation, effectively resolving all the issues that exist between us, despite the attempts of ill-wishers to cause discord in our joint work," he said. He called Uzbekistan "one of the leading economic partners in the Central Asian region." However, the Russian Prime Minister is confident that "the potential of the economies of Russia and Uzbekistan is much higher, there are many opportunities for developing cooperation in new areas."

"It is important to take our relations to a qualitatively new level," Mishustin stressed. According to him, "the common task is to jointly bring trade and economic cooperation to a higher level in the near future on the basis of equality, mutual respect, and consideration of each other’s interests." "I’m absolutely sure we can do it," he said.

At the meeting, the Russian Prime Minister proposed to determine "prospects for further interaction in the highest priority areas in the trade, economic, investment, scientific, technical, cultural and humanitarian spheres," paying special attention to "expanding cooperation in industry, agriculture, energy, high technology, education, medicine."

Mishustin noted that "despite the difficult international environment, both economic and investment ties between the two countries are consistently strengthening." He recalled that in 2022, mutual trade turnover increased by more than a quarter, and in January-July of this year - by another 14%.

The Russian Prime Minister believes that Uzbekistan’s involvement in Eurasian integration "will provide favorable conditions for the development of the national economy, improvement the well-being of citizens, business and investment activity." He emphasized that "integration interaction mitigates the impact of negative external conditions through the creation of strong production and logistics chains, the use of modern technologies, and the advantages of the digital economy."

Business contacts and joint projects

"We consider it possible to increase business contacts between our entrepreneurs," the Russian Prime Minister said. He drew attention to the fact that the largest Russian companies are expanding their presence in Uzbekistan, their total investments account for a fifth of the total volume of foreign investments.

"The number of joint projects is steadily growing in industry, the agro-industrial sector, the textile industry, and transport infrastructure," he said adding that energy as one of the most promising areas of cooperation.

As an example, he referred to the creation of a modern gas processing complex at the Kandym group of fields, the development of other fields and plans to build a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan using Russian technologies.

"The difficulties with energy supply that Uzbekistan experienced last winter confirmed the correctness [of the nuclear power plant project] and the relevance of the choice in favor of peaceful nuclear energy. Implementation of the project will help meet Uzbekistan’s needs for electricity, create thousands of new jobs, and unlock the industrial potential of Uzbekistan," the Russian Prime Minister said.