On April 16, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev received Alan Duncan, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who is in our country on a working visit.

The head of our state, warmly welcoming the guest, noted with deep satisfaction the dynamic development of the Uzbek-British multidimensional relations in recent years.

In turn, Minister of State Alan Duncan, expressing sincere gratitude to the President of Uzbekistan for hospitality, conveyed warm greetings and the best of wishes from the British Prime Minister Theresa May.

As the British diplomat emphasized, extensive reforms and changes taking place in Uzbekistan, covering all walks of public life, contribute to the further enhancement of full-format cooperation between the two countries.

Currently, active political dialogue and inter-parliamentary contacts are maintained, cooperation in the trade, economic, investment, innovation, and banking and financial spheres has been expanding. In 2018, the volume of mutual trade showed the maximum growth over the past 10 years.

In February this year, a regular meeting of the Uzbek-British Trade and Industry Council with the participation of leading British companies took place in Tashkent and it proved fruitful.
Cultural and humanitarian, educational and tourist exchanges are enlarging. Westminster International University and the British Council are successfully operating in our country.

During the conversation, pressing issues in the bilateral practical cooperation, in the efforts towards facilitating the realization of joint projects involving British direct investments, best practices and technologies were discussed.

The talks participants exchanged views on the international and regional affairs, including the issues in building up good-neighborly relations and partnerships in Central Asia, as well as the soonest peaceful settlement of the situation in Afghanistan.

At the end of the meeting, the commitment to further deepen mutually advantageous cooperation between Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom was emphasized.