Azerbaijani, Uzbek leaders convene in Tashkent to boost trade and investment with business leaders

Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, held a meeting with representatives from the business communities of both countries in Tashkent.

The President of Uzbekistan was the first to address the meeting, Caliber.Az reports via Azertag.

Speech by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev

- Dear Ilham Heydarovich,

Dear participants of the meeting.

I would like to once again say how pleased I am to see you and to welcome you on your historic visit to Uzbekistan today. Welcome to Uzbekistan again!

I am pleased to meet the leaders – this is happening for the first time – of leading Azerbaijani and Uzbek companies, representatives of strategic industries, the business elite of our countries.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you, dear Ilham Heydarovich, for bringing such an impressive delegation of business people as part of the visit program. I believe they meet quite often, but this is the first such meeting. I am sure that there will be a very good result, because, I want to say again, I know many of them, I have heard about them, but this is their first time in Uzbekistan with such a mission.

Once again, I want to express my gratitude to you for bringing them along. Because our entrepreneurs have known each other for a long time, but we have not had such a meeting under the patronage of the presidents. If you would support this idea, when we visit each other – you have invited me and I was happy to accept your invitation and will definitely visit your country next year – I would like meetings with business representatives to be traditional. They already have experience, they have a desire to cooperate and they must be sure that we in Uzbekistan will create all the conditions so that it is, firstly, mutually beneficial and comfortable for them to work in Uzbekistan. Therefore, today, I would like to listen to them with pleasure, because in the light of instability in the global and regional markets, as you can see, the respected Ilham Heydarovich and I are giving priority attention to expanding trade and economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. We understand perfectly well how big role support for business initiatives and projects plays in this process.

Seated at this table are the heads and representatives of leading companies that are confidently standing on their feet both in Azerbaijan and in Uzbekistan. Over the past three or four years, I want to tell you again, I have been cultivating and protecting this business elite. Because we have history, they know what we used to be and what we have become now. So, for me, each of them is actually my brainchild. I know each of them personally, I meet with each of the representatives of the business elite sitting here, and I create all the conditions for them. And today I want them to cooperate with Azerbaijani companies. You see how much we have achieved. Yesterday, at the business forum, a portfolio of projects worth $2 billion was already developed. I think this is the beginning of a long journey, and this is not the limit for our large companies. I really want our meeting today to be historic. We just met with the press, and I said that we, the esteemed Ilham Heydarovich, and I had signed an Treaty on Allied Relations. You know, we have not signed such an agreement with any other country in such a short time. Why did the respected Ilham Heydarovich and I achieve this in such a short time? Because there is a political will to bring countries and peoples closer together. We did not have direct flights. Today, there are four flights a week in both directions. But, we want to open new flights to other cities - Samarkand, Fergana, Urgench, and we will work on this seriously.

You are the driving force in the economy, boldly introducing innovations, creating enterprises and new jobs. You remember the recent past quite well, as I said. You are the main conductors of economic reforms. You are doing a lot in Azerbaijan and my current business representatives are doing a lot in Uzbekistan. Every year, Ilham Heydarovich, August 20 is the Day of Entrepreneurs, and the President of Uzbekistan meets with the business community on all the issues raised. We do this for a whole month: the President, the Prime Minister, the ministers and all the regional leaders, the hakims of the regions, also meet with the business elite. So, they are already inspired. We negotiate with them at each meeting. In this difficult time, we create all the conditions for them to comfortably continue their business here and increase their capital. So they are inspired by the latest decisions. I believe that we will sign these decrees that I promised them at the last meeting before the holidays. We held this meeting in Karakalpakstan, because we have created very extraordinary conditions for doing business in Karakalpakstan. Everyone is exempt from all taxes. Land is given with all preferences, etc. We have a lot of favorable conditions there. So, our people are ready for you, business representatives, if you have such an opportunity, to stay with us for another two or three days, and engage in discussions with your colleagues. They are ready to express their intentions, share their vision, so that our business is present in Azerbaijan and yours is present in Uzbekistan. Ilham Heydarovich and I have agreed. I suggested starting construction in both Baku and Tashkent like ours – you may have heard about this, we built an Eternal City in Samarkand, so something similar to this Eternal City. I even said how many hectares: we need at least 5 hectares, if it is 10, that would be even better. Therefore, we want to create all these conditions. There will be Uzbek land in Baku and Azerbaijani land in Tashkent. Therefore, our business people, I believe, will also express their proposals today. There are already business people willing to do this. In other words, we will create all the conditions you need.

So again, I am glad to see you in Uzbekistan. I want to say again that my entire team, including the President and the Prime Minister, will meet with you at any time, create mutually beneficial conditions in Uzbekistan so that you feel comfortable. All you need to do is propose projects. Ilham Heydarovich will also support, and so will I. So, here we are meeting with you, and I will be happy to listen to you if you have any proposals today to improve the business environment in Uzbekistan specifically for you.

Once again, I am glad to see you. I am now pleased to give the floor to Ilham Heydarovich.

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Then, the President of Azerbaijan addressed the meeting.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev

- Thank you, dear Shavkat Miromonovich.

Dear participants of the meeting.

First of all, I would like to thank the President of Uzbekistan for the initiative to hold such a meeting. I will say that there have never been such meetings in my experience. There were times when I participated in business forums as part of official visits or when foreign heads of state came to Azerbaijan and we held business forums in Baku. But they were limited to the fact that the heads of state would make a short speech and then leave, while the business forum continued to operate on its own. In principle, the business forum that was recently held in Tashkent was very full of projects. However, such a meeting, involving key representatives of the business communities of both countries in a relatively narrow format, is taking place for the first time in my experience, so I would like to start with this and express my gratitude to Shavkat Miromonovich.

I would also like to once again note the importance of the documents signed today, first of all, the Treaty on Allied Relations. This is the third document of this nature in Azerbaijan. Before that, we signed Declarations on Allied Relations or Allied Interaction with two of our close countries – in 2021 and 2022. In this case, we are talking about an agreement, i.e. there is no higher document in the world. And this is the result of our joint activities in a very short time. Shavkat Miromonovich and I have discussed issues many times and have always been happy with what we are achieving. We have always worried that we could have done this, I do not mean him and myself personally, but Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, many years ago, 15 or 20 years ago. I first came to Uzbekistan as President exactly 20 years ago, in 2004, and then I met Shavkat Miromonovich, who had only recently started to lead the government of Uzbekistan. And together we went to Samarkand and, in general, our friendship began then. Our Uzbek friends know the situation we had then better. There was no opportunity to promote both political dialogue and economic relations, they practically did not exist, they simply did not exist at all. And today, we are already talking about what has been done in such a short time. Today, new initiatives in 20 areas that have been communicated to us. We will, of course, carefully study them. Moreover, I will say that there was not a single decision that was made at the presidential level that was not implemented, and not only in the business sphere, not only in the sphere of trade and economic relations.

I would like to touch upon another important topic. I know that business entities are very sensitive, as they should be, to the political situation. So there is simply no better political situation than the one between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. Therefore, this is one of the important factors that will encourage our business people to work together and invest, including jointly. Uzbekistan is a country with enormous potential, which is now just spreading its shoulders and wings. It is already flying, but it still needs a little more time, a few years perhaps, for it to be a flight in every sense of the word. The country is one of a handful of states where political stability is based both on the President's policy and on the people's attitude towards the President. And this is very important for business. Predictability is very important, it is very important that business people and investors know that their investments will be protected and that they will enjoy and be happy to work, and that it will also bring them a profit. Uzbekistan also has a good investment climate, otherwise there would not be so much investment in such a short time, including foreign and local, i.e. local investors would simply invest in other countries and foreign investors would not come at all. Therefore, all these factors are very important. In principle, I am now addressing Azerbaijani business people, but I can say the same about Azerbaijan as well. All these factors are also present in Azerbaijan, so working and investing in Azerbaijan will also be both pleasant and useful for Uzbek investors. And if you look at the investment statistics, then all this, as they say, will further confirm the words we are saying.

We have already identified the sectors for our investment programs: industry (heavy, automotive, light), agriculture (cotton growing, sericulture, horticulture), tourism business, and hotel business. These are only the main areas where work is already underway. I would like to note another important point - investments are coming from both sides. This is also, let's say, not such a frequent occurrence for Azerbaijan. As a rule, foreign investors are interested in the oil and gas sector in Azerbaijan. As for foreign companies operating in other areas, they mainly want to receive contracts for work in Azerbaijan. In other words, to act as contractors. This is also good, we need good contractors, qualified and conscientious ones. But this is not exactly what we want. In our case, investments seem to be on a parallel course and cover the areas where we are most advanced. Therefore, the uniqueness of our relations in this area, I think, also deserves close attention from the public, including the business community. And the last point - I would not like to take up too much time listing specific projects. We have talked about this a lot. The last point, which we also agreed on, is information support for business projects. We want there to be more information, for example, in Azerbaijan about what is happening in Uzbekistan and what large projects are being implemented and what opportunities there are for business. Because today we are talking with leading business entities, but I am sure that there will be many representatives of small and medium businesses who will also want to open their own enterprises, maybe not for a thousand people, like, for example, the sewing factory in Khankendi, but maybe for five people. I am sure that today's visit and what we are talking about and what we signed for will also be a good signal for them. Therefore, the more mutual information there is about what is happening, what opportunities there are, what areas of the economy are considered a priority for the government, so that businesses will also go in this direction, the better. This will, first, better inform our societies about each other, and this is absolutely necessary - as allies we must definitely achieve this, and it will also be a good benchmark for business entities. They will know that, for example, the profit margin might be 20% in one location, 15% in another, and 25% elsewhere, indicating that this sector offers good returns. And given that the potential of our countries is very large and the areas of investment are also completely diverse, I am sure that the profit margin will be such that it will be difficult to obtain elsewhere.

And the very last thing. Also, upon arrival in Baku, I will give instructions to the city administration to select a territory in a good place from 5 to 10 hectares and fully support the proposal of Shavkat Miromonovich to create a corner of Uzbekistan in Baku and a corner of Azerbaijan in Tashkent, which would personify culture, tradition and architecture. So, we will also work hard on this. In the near future, we will select such a place.

Thank you for your attention.

x x x

Addressing the meeting, company leaders and businessmen highlighted joint projects between the two countries in sectors such as oil and gas, the petrochemical industry, construction, the production of construction materials, machine building, transportation, shipbuilding, investment, and other fields.

The heads of state shared their views on the speeches.

x x x

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev: Ilham Heydarovich, I think this is the beginning of a great joint effort by our business communities. I will note once again, as Ilham Heydarovich said, you must rest assured that we will create all the favorable conditions. The companies I have raised are saying – all those who spoke today, they would all like to speak, but, unfortunately, our time is limited – they all want to cooperate with you. Only on a mutually beneficial basis, we will create, let me say this again, all the conditions so that representatives of your companies are in Uzbekistan in a year, and our companies are in Azerbaijan. We have already completed a few large projects. When we started, no one believed us. It turns out that it is possible to cooperate with them. And secondly, I always tell Ilham Heydarovich one thing: if we look at our import substitution, we are feeding other countries, we are simply feeding them. And if we cooperate, then in two to three years we will achieve a lot, and there will be a result. What the head of “Global Textile”, Muzaffar Razakov, says today: two thousand jobs. This is also a real result – two thousand jobs, and I instructed him to make this the most indicative cluster of Uzbekistan, because, I am telling quite frankly, Ilham Heydarovich, for three to four years, if we appeal to figures, we processed about 15 percent of cotton. But if we speak figuratively, since 2016, there were 700 million in sales of finished fiber. Today, we have completely transformed this sector. We export, we only export. In addition to the fact that we receive taxes, about 2.5 million, we have attracted women to this industry throughout the republic. We have 4-4.5 billion in exports in this industry. In other words, these are the real results of our work. And most importantly, we gave it into the hands of entrepreneurship. Clusters are private individuals, they plant themselves, process themselves and then sell themselves on the market. I help them every year. When the market for textiles is good, they will get out on their own. But they are just getting on their feet, three or four years. For them to have working capital, we support them a little. Every year I meet and support them. So, we can also cooperate in these industries, Ilham Heydarovich.

President Ilham Aliyev: I completely agree with you, Shavkat Miromonovich. I was very pleased to hear that this work has already begun and the plans are quite large. Forty thousand tons of raw cotton, well, if today we produce 300,000 tons, then that's about 15 percent of what we have today. And from the perspective of increasing the area from 5,000 to 11,000, especially since all the land there is irrigated, and with your technologies we will, I think, collect 4-5 tons per hectare, it would be quite feasible. In other words, we can reach a volume of 50,000 tons, so it will be a serious increase. And as you correctly noted, textile clusters mean jobs, primarily for women, i.e. it is employment. So these are very impressive projects, and also what other colleagues reported here. This is the result of our joint work.

Our transporters are also present. I would recommend that our delegation—referring to the delegation accompanying me—suggest ordering ferries for transport across the Caspian Sea. I would suggest that perhaps you meet with the Minister of Transport and discuss this very topic. Because now we are expanding the capacity of our shipyard. At the moment, it is building six vessels. So it is fully loaded. We can accept orders. But we will probably have to, probably, not limit ourselves to this, because the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway will soon be ready. And that means that additional cargo will start coming. This means that in any case, we will have to – both you and us – work together in this regard. And also at one of the previous meetings, I informed Shavkat Miromonovich that we are now entering the Black Sea region more actively. We have acquired four “Aframax” tankers, not to mention the fact that we had vessels in the Black Sea before. Therefore, if you are interested in this in the future, we can work together in the Black Sea on transportation, because the volume of orders there is quite large, and the difficulties of the Black Sea basin are now, as they say, well known. Therefore, there are certain niches here where we could work together.

And in terms of work in Karabakh, thank you for your contribution to the construction. And I am also instructing the Minister of Economy to look at what other projects we can implement there together with your help. The Great Return program is quite large. By the end of this year, the total volume of investments that we began to invest in 2021 will probably already amount to at least 10 billion dollars. In practice, we are starting to build housing, we literally started recently. In other words, all this basically went into infrastructure. And large-scale housing construction has begun. We have already placed a little more than 8,000 people out of hundreds of thousands who want to return. So housing construction - this will now be after 2026, I think. When all the infrastructure is fully completed, this will be the main focus. Therefore, we have a headquarters, an organizing committee for all projects, the Ministry of Economy is engaged in investment projects. Therefore, do stay in touch. I think that at our next meeting of this kind you can tell us what new projects have been implemented.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev: Ilham Heydarovich, I think we have a proposal. We have a busy program today, but I would be happy to listen to all of you. But there is protocol. So I have a proposal, Ilham Heydarovich. I propose again what I mentioned earlier: please stay for one more day, so that you can talk with your colleagues and then each of you will have some kind of a joint project. Moreover, we agreed with Ilham Heydarovich that we will increase the amount of the fund. In other words, we will provide support for the beginning of your work. Feel free to talk more realistically. You, business people, understand each other right away. You do not need an interpreter. You understand each other very quickly and we, the two presidents, Ilham Heydarovich and I, will support you. And you should include new projects in the road map. I want to say again that you must rest assured that it will be mutually beneficial for both you and us, so that it is more comfortable for you to work. I said this before: third countries to Afghanistan. Our market, 80 million market in Central Asia, you can work here freely. You can keep this in mind too. So, I am glad to see you all in Uzbekistan again. I think this is the beginning of a great interaction of the business community between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

President Ilham Aliyev: I fully agree with you. Thank you again, Shavkat Miromonovich, for this initiative. I think these contacts and our parting words for business circles will be of great importance. Just as we monitor what our ministers do, we will monitor them as well. So let them prepare for this.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev: Yes. So you too, be prepared for monitoring.

x x x

Then a ceremony was held to launch new Uzbek-Azerbaijani joint projects.

It was reported that seven projects worth a total of 520 million dollars have been prepared for launch:

- Construction of a five-star hotel and residence under the Ritz-Carlton brand in Tashkent. The cost of the project is 200 million dollars.

- Construction of a plant for the production of gypsum and gypsum-cardboard products in the Kamashinsky district of the Kashkadarya region, with a production capacity of 350 tons per day. The cost of the project is 20 million dollars.

- Construction of residential complexes by Agalarov Development in Tashkent. The cost of the projects is 133 million dollars.

- Creation of a textile cluster in the Yevlakh district of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The cost of the project is 104 million dollars. It provides for a full production cycle from cotton cultivation to the release of finished products. This project is being implemented with the participation of the Uzbekistani company “Global Textile”.

- Construction of a textile factory in the city of Khankendi in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The project is worth 6 million dollars. It is being implemented with the participation of the Uzbekistani company “BUSINESS TEX LLC”.

- Creation of a textile cluster in the Imishli district of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The cost of the project is 54 million dollars and it provides for a full production cycle from cotton dyeing to the release of finished products. The project is being implemented with the participation of the Uzbekistani company “TST GROUP”.

- Creation of the Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan Friendship Garden in the Fuzuli district of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The cost of the project is 3 million dollars.

x x x

Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Shavkat Mirziyoyev then pressed a symbolic button to mark the commencement of joint projects in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.