The countries of Central Asia need to develop common approaches to the formation of the Central Asian space of industrial localization and import substitution based on national industrial development programs. This was stated by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the IV Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia.

Mirziyoyev noted that due to the intensification of the crisis in the global economy, the countries of the region “face the problems of breaking traditional logistics chains, import inflation is growing, the risks of food and energy security have increased many times over.”

The countries of the region are consistently solving the tasks of ensuring security and stability, sustainable socio-economic development of Central Asia, the Uzbek leader said.

“On this path, many barriers were removed, conditions were created for the free movement of our citizens, active cultural and tourist exchanges. A favorable environment has been formed that promotes the growth of mutual trade and investment. Over the past five years alone, the volume of intra-regional trade has doubled. We have also started implementing joint industrial cooperation projects, creating effective value chains, developing transport and energy infrastructure,”  – Mirziyoyev was quoted by his spokesman, Sherzod Asadov.

However, the potential for trade and economic cooperation between the countries of Central Asia remains untapped. Intra-regional trade accounts for, according to various estimates, from 5% to 10% of the total trade turnover of the countries of the region.

“In this regard, we propose to actively introduce new forms and mechanisms to stimulate mutual trade. We are talking about creating a system of border trade zones with unified rules and simplified procedures for the supply of goods,”  – Mirziyoyev explained.

He stated the importance of replacing expensive and not always high-quality imports from third countries with products from manufacturers from the region and promoting joint industrial cooperation projects.

“Our business circles are interested in creating industries using competitive advantages and the factor of mutual complementarity of the economies of the countries of the region,”  – Mirziyoyev emphasized.

The President of Uzbekistan proposed to annually hold the Forum of the Regions of Central Asia and strive to create a single favorable business climate to increase the investment attractiveness of the region.

Mirziyoyev considers it important to develop a comprehensive scheme for guaranteed provision of the population with a wide range of food products produced in the countries of the region. First of all, these are cereals, oilseeds and fodder crops, fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy products and much more.

“In these matters, we must establish systematic work, based primarily on the common interests of the Central Asian region,”  – Mirziyoyev said.

In his speech, he also suggested:

• develop a roadmap to promote alternative transport corridors to enter the markets of India, Pakistan and China;
• instruct governments to prepare a concrete action plan for the implementation of the Green Agenda for Central Asia program. It involves, in particular, the fulfillment of international obligations on the decarbonization of the economy, the outstripping development of alternative energy, the widespread introduction of water-saving and environmentally friendly technologies, the rational use of water resources;
• strengthen joint work on the implementation of cooperation programs in the field of culture, education, sports and tourism, as well as in-depth study of common history;
• alternately hold the Central Asian Festival of Culture, Art and Cinema in the countries of the region;
• actively stimulate intra-regional tourism.

Separately, the President of Uzbekistan dwelled on the topic of regional cooperation in the field of security.

Recalling traditional threats (extremism, terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking), Mirziyoyev pointed to “new challenges related to illegal activities on the Internet, the scale of which is increasing.”

“Today, there are no borders for these threats – they penetrate through mobile phones. Unfortunately, the recent tragic events in Uzbekistan have once again confirmed the presence of destructive forces that are trying to disrupt our plans, sow chaos and instability in our region. In this regard, we support the proposal to launch regular consultations of the heads of the Security Councils and special services of the countries of the region in all these areas,” –  Mirziyoyev said.

He also recalled Afghanistan, noting that cooperation in promoting long-term peace in that country and its social and economic recovery should remain a top priority for the countries of the region.

“We, the closest neighbors, like no other, should be interested in stability in this country. It is on us that the way the international community perceives this problem largely depends. We also stand for the active development of trade relations with this country, its involvement in regional economic processes, the expansion of humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, the promotion of important social and infrastructure projects,” – said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.