Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have signed agreements worth $352 million.

Documents were signed on October 22 in Samarkand during the IV Forum of Interregional Cooperation "Kazakhstan – Uzbekistan."

The event was attended by the Prime Ministers of Uzbekistan, Abdulla Aripov, and Kazakhstan, Olzhas Bektanov. They discussed issues related to industrial cooperation, collaboration in water, energy, and transit-transport sectors, as well as the gas industry.

It was noted that Uzbekistan is Kazakhstan's main trading partner in the Central Asian region. As of the end of August 2024, the volume of mutual trade reached 2.5 billion dollars.

Kazakhstan is prepared to increase its exports to Uzbekistan by over 550 million dollars across 40 types of high-value goods in the petrochemical, metallurgical, automotive, food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries.

Particular attention during the forum was given to the development of industrial cooperation, which involves the implementation of 74 joint projects with an investment volume of 3.4 billion dollars, leading to the creation of 14,600 jobs.

Currently, nine joint projects have been implemented in Kazakhstan, with three more in Uzbekistan. This has allowed for the creation of a total of 4,800 new jobs.

Additionally, the parties discussed the development of transport and logistics potential. More than 50% of Uzbekistan's trade turnover transits through Kazakhstan.

As part of the forum, a practical action plan was also signed to expedite the implementation of agreements reached at the highest level. These include joint projects in energy, mining, and geology. Agreements on cooperation in trade-economic, scientific-technical, and cultural-humanitarian spheres between the regions of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were also signed.

It should be noted that a duty-free trade zone is planned to be established at the Kazakh-Uzbek border.