On January 17, the first meeting of Uzbekistan – India Business Council was held in Ahmedabad, India.

The event was organized jointly by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Confederation of Indian Industry with the assistance of Uzbekistan’s embassy in India and the State Investment Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The meeting was attended by the Co-Chair of the Business Council from the Uzbek side, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Adkham Ikramov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Chairman of the State Investment Committee Sukhrob Kholmuradov, Co-Chair from the Indian side, President of Confederation of Indian Industry, Bharti Enterprises Vice-Chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal, as well as managers of leading companies of the two countries operating in the spheres of health, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, information technologies, electric power, construction, tourism and hotel industry, in the chemical and textile industries.

Issues of further development of industrial cooperation, attraction of Indian companies to Uzbekistan and promising areas of organizing joint business forums and exhibitions were discussed.

Uzbekistan and Indian business people held an open dialogue on establishment and expansion of partnership in these areas and industries.

– Uzbekistan – India Business Council is established to further expand trade-economic and investment cooperation between our countries, – said Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan A.Ikramov. –Issues of cooperation in such areas as pharmaceuticals, textiles, services, logistics and investment were discussed. Confederation of Indian Industry and entrepreneurs of this country expressed their intention to send their delegations to Uzbekistan. We also reached an agreement on opening a permanent office of the Confederation of Indian Industry in Tashkent and holding the second meeting in October.

The result of the summit is also a close economic cooperation between Andijan region and the state of Gujarat. Projects worth 206 million USD are being implemented in Andijan region with participation of Indian investors. Six of them are related to pharmaceuticals. These projects will be implemented in Uzbekistan – India pharmaceutical zone established in Andijan in accordance with the Decree of the President of Uzbekistan “On establishment of Andijon-Pharm free economic zone” of January 14, 2019.

Following the event, it was decided to hold the next meeting of Uzbekistan – India Business Council in Tashkent.

On the same day, an international trade fair was opened in the city of Gandhinagar within the framework of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. In the international part of the fair, stands of Uzbekistan, Canada, France, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of South Africa and Australia are organized.

The pavilions of the trade fair feature Indian and foreign products in 25 sectors, such as aerospace and defense, agrarian, biotechnology, chemistry and fuel, component parts, electronics, ecology, precious stones and jewelry, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure and mega-projects. Presentations of new products and developments from global industrial giants are held.

The opening ceremony of the fair was attended by the Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi. In the international pavilion of the fair, he got acquainted with the stand of Uzbekistan.

The trade fair will serve to expand cooperation between businessmen of the two countries, create new joint ventures and increase mutual trade.

Umar Asrorov, UzA
Ahmedabad, India.

Source: UzA