Uzbekistan and the UAE: Strong Bonds and Boundless Opportunities

In recent years, the partnership between Uzbekistan and the UAE has reached unprecedented heights, elevating bilateral relations to the level of a strategic alliance. The strong rapport between the UAE leadership and the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has become the cornerstone of this progressive collaboration.

This trust-based relationship has paved the way for expansive cooperation across trade, economic, industrial, scientific, technological, and cultural spheres. 

Notably, investment cooperation spans diverse fields, including traditional and renewable energy, infrastructure, chemical industries, geology, IT, agriculture, transportation, and logistics.

Consider these milestones: Uzbekistan is now home to 337 UAE-funded enterprises, including 114 joint ventures and 223 foreign companies. In 2023, investments reached $1.08 billion, surging to over $1.5 billion in 2024.

Collaborations involve renowned Emirati entities such as Masdar, Taqa, ADQ, Mubadala, AD Ports, DP World, and the Abu Dhabi Development Fund. 

These initiatives are directly supervised by the leadership of both nations, underscoring the strategic depth of their partnership.

Innovating beyond conventional frameworks, Uzbekistan and the UAE established the "Uzbek-Emirati Investment Company" to streamline financial instruments for shared projects. 

With an investment portfolio of $200 million, the company oversees seven projects worth $192.5 million in medicine, geology, agriculture, and tourism, with nine additional projects worth $140 million in development.

Significant strides have been made in developing mutual trade. Since 2021, bilateral trade between the UAE and Uzbekistan has been steadily increasing by more than 20% annually, reaching nearly $650 million by the end of 2024. This figure falls short of reflecting the full economic potential of both countries. As a result, comprehensive measures are being taken on a reciprocal basis to eliminate trade barriers, reduce transportation costs, simplify licensing procedures, and implement other tariff and non-tariff measures to regulate trade flows. Uzbek delegation participated with a national pavilion in the Dubai Expo, which took place from September 30, 2021, to March 31, 2022.

Today, the range of goods includes food products, non-food raw materials, mineral fuels, machinery and equipment, various types of industrial products, and services. There is every reason to believe that, in correlation with the level of development of the industrial potential, this list will be significantly expanded in the coming years.

In Uzbekistan, there is a saying, "Mehr kuzda." The country adheres to long-standing traditions and actively supports strong ties in both bilateral and multilateral formats. Government and business circles of both states seek to use every opportunity to expand the scale of their partnership. Joint business forums with the participation of heads of major companies from both countries are held on a systematic basis. The latest one took place in September 2024 with the participation of the head of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Mohammad Lootah, and over 40 representatives of the UAE business community.
At the same time, Uzbekistan systematically conducts roadshows in the Emirates, presenting opportunities for the privatization of state-owned assets and new promising investment projects, including those based on public-private partnerships.

In February of last year, Laziz Kudratov, Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade, participated in the World Government Summit SDGs in Action 2024 held in Dubai. At the same time, the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization was held in Abu Dhabi. The Uzbek delegation was headed by Jamshid Khodjaev, Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan. As part of the event, protocols were signed to conclude negotiations on Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO with three WTO member states.

In September 2024, during the visit of UAE leaders to Uzbekistan, a forum was held to facilitate the exchange of experiences between the two countries. The forum addressed issues in eight priority areas of mutual interest.

An Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, and Scientific-Technical Cooperation is in operation. The commission holds regular meetings where heads of ministries and departments of the two countries coordinate their efforts on all issues of bilateral cooperation, including the implementation of joint projects, measures to expand mutual trade, the implementation of educational programs, financial cooperation, and other issues.

Uzbekistan and the UAE are not geographical neighbors, yet they are consistently increasing interaction in the fields of transport and logistics. Uzbekistan Airways, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, Wizz Air, and Fly Dubai operate more than 50 regular flights per week between major cities of the two countries - Tashkent, Samarkand, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, and Ras al-Khaimah.

In Uzbekistan, with the support of the UAE government, the One Million Uzbek Coders project has been implemented, allowing young Uzbeks to undergo distance learning in four popular IT specialties: data analytics, Android development, frontend development, and full-stack development. The graduation ceremony of the project was attended by Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and A. Aripov, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan.

As part of an exhibition at the Dubai Opera, the international premiere of the national ballet "Lazgi" was organized.

"In a historically short period of fifty years, the United Arab Emirates has performed a 'miracle' in the desert, transforming itself into one of the world's leading centers of economy, innovation, trade, finance, and tourism." These are the words of the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, during his visit to the UAE in 2019.

Our multifaceted cooperation with the UAE allows us to project this economic miracle onto our country, creating conditions for colossal transformations and improving people's lives.

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