Irakli Kobakhidze's visit to the Uzbek capital provided an opportunity to bolster cooperation between the two countries.
The goal is to swiftly raise the volume of trade to one billion dollars, The Caspian Post reports citing foreign media.
The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, recently visited Uzbekistan, where he met his counterpart Abdulla Aripov in Tashkent to discuss the development of the ‘Middle Corridor’ for Eurasian transport, the project that could transform the economy of the entire Central Asian and Caucasian region. This is the Trans-Caspian international transport route, which runs from the border between China and Kazakhstan to Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and on to Europe, using rail and sea routes across the Caspian Sea for over 11,000 kilometres, with the potential to transport between 4.5 million and 27 million tonnes per year. The Corridor began operating in 2017, and in December 2022 Uzbekistan also joined it, to send goods to Europe.
Kobakhidze emphasised that his country ‘is in a strategic position, connecting Europe and Asia, the West and the East’, and therefore he intends to make the most of the possibilities that are opening up. In this sense, the partnership with Uzbekistan would be extremely useful and fruitful, even though the two countries are not directly neighbouring, but are parallel to each other on either side of the Caspian Sea.
The two heads of government recognised the positive dynamics in mutual trade and investments, and Kobakhidze invited Aripov to visit Georgia in turn. The press office of the government in Tashkent has also emphasised the increase in the balance of trade with the Georgians, and it is thought that the potential of this trade could reach a total of one billion dollars within the next few years. This could be achieved mainly by increasing the trade of handcrafted textiles and leather goods, but also food products, electrical engineering, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, fruit and vegetables, building materials and much more.
Interest in co-operation in sectors such as agriculture, tourism, training and, of course, transport and logistics has also been declared. According to the dynamics of regional communications, twinning and collaboration relationships are being considered between Samarkand and Batumi, and also between Bukhara and Mtskheta, the most representative cities both from a cultural point of view and for commercial exchanges.
The intergovernmental commission for economic collaboration between Uzbekistan and Georgia was therefore reconvened, at the end of which several documents were signed, including a memorandum on ‘mutual understanding and partnership’ in the context of state purchases, and a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in various agricultural projects. Kobakhidze was then received by the President of Uzbekistan, Šavkat Mirziyoyev, who congratulated him on the activation of contacts between the governments and parliaments of the two countries, as well as on the results obtained according to the reports presented, which show a 50% growth in the mutual trade balance in the last year, an increase in the number of joint ventures and in the volume of cargo transported, and in the activity of the digital bank supported by Georgian investors in Uzbekistan and Central Asia.
There have also been important opportunities for cultural exchange, such as the Days of Uzbek Culture and Cinema which were successfully held in Tbilisi in 2024, and many other initiatives are planned for mutual exchange and enrichment between the Turanian world and the many ethnic, cultural and social diversities of the Caucasian region.
