A major business forum in Tashkent brought together representatives from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries.

Chairman of Kazakh National Chamber of Entrepreneurs Atameken Kanat Sharlapaev, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan Yeraly Togzhanov, Chairman of Uzbekistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Davron Vakhabov, and business leaders from both countries took part in the event, Kazinform reported.

Addressing those attending, Kanat Sharlapaev outlined the priorities of economic cooperation between the two nations. He said that in 2025, bilateral trade grew by 16.2%, reaching 4.8 billion US dollars. For the first five months of 2026, trade rose by 2.3 billion US dollars, which is 37.2% more compared to the same period of the last year.

Kazakhstan’s exports rose 24.6%, totaling 3.52 billion US dollars.

He also emphasized that for further development of cooperation it is crucial to expand production cooperation between the two countries.

As part of the forum, a memorandum was signed between Uzbekistan’s Glasfit Energy and Kazakhstan’s Armature-Insulator Plant to establish long-term partnership, expand production cooperation, and increase supply of Kazakh products to Uzbekistan.

It was suggested to form a permanent expert working group between Atameken and Uzbekistan’s Chamber of Commerce.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are currently implementing 80 joint projects worth 1.8 billion US dollars.