Vice President Fuat Oktay said, “Despite the global epidemic crisis, our trade volume with Uzbekistan increased by 93 percent in the first five months of 2021 compared to the previous year and reached the level of 1.5 billion dollars. It’s about reaching first and surpassing the $5 billion target.” said.
In his speech at the Uzbekistan-Turkey Business Forum organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) within the scope of the 6th Meeting of the Joint Economic Commission in a hotel, Oktay stated that he believed the meeting, which brought together the Uzbek business world and Turkish business life members, would be a turning point in bilateral relations. .
Conveying the greetings of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who always contributes to the strengthening of the deep-rooted ties of brotherhood between the peoples of Turkey and Uzbek, to the participants, Oktay said that Uzbekistan, which represents one of the greatest civilizations of history in the steppes of Central Asia, is the ancestral homeland and the apple of his eye.
Stating that Turkey and Uzbekistan have strong ties of brotherhood, common language, religion and culture, Oktay said, “Our history is full of concrete signs of our deep-rooted friendship that ignores geographical distances. We have not forgotten, we will not forget, the support sent to Turkey and the members of the Bukhara Assembly who made it possible. Our brothers who celebrated the success of our National Struggle in Tashkent Square also have a special place in our hearts.” he said.
Oktay emphasized that they are happy to have Uzbekistan regain its independence 30 years ago and bring the Uzbek flag back to the skies.
Reminding that Turkey was the first country to officially recognize Uzbekistan with this enthusiasm, Oktay reminded that the success, development and growth of Uzbekistan was sincerely supported by Turkey in the following period.
Covid-19 outbreak
Stating that the common historical heritage constitutes the basis for further strengthening the friendly relations between the two countries in every field, and that business people have such a solid, ancient and unshakable friendship ground, Oktay continued his words as follows:
“When our business people from Turkey and Uzbekistan sit at a table, it is now a friendly assembly, and the established connections are family ties. Mechanisms such as the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council and the Joint Economic Commission, formed under the leadership of our President, Mr. I know that you also produce and work with these feelings. I would like to thank you all for your contributions to the Turkey-Uzbekistan brotherhood. The Kovid-19 epidemic has deeply affected countries in many ways and caused serious shocks in the global economy. Turkey has almost brought the world’s largest economies to a standstill. He continued his investments in both public and private sectors under the leadership of our President.
Oktay said that the Turkish economy grew by 7 percent in the first quarter of 2021, with a growth performance above expectations, and that they expect a much stronger growth in the second quarter.
Pointing out that in May this year, the exports increased by 65.5 percent compared to the same month of the previous year and amounted to 16 billion 480 million, and that they aim to break a new record by exceeding 200 billion dollars in total exports this year, Oktay continued as follows:
“When we look at international direct investments, in 2020, where global investments decreased by 42 percent, Turkey managed to attract approximately 8 billion dollars of direct investment. We also follow Uzbekistan’s fight against the epidemic with appreciation, and we are pleased to see that the epidemic was kept under control thanks to the measures taken by the Uzbekistan administration. It is seen and experienced today that it will witness great changes in many respects. As Turkey, we carry out our preparations with a long-term vision that will leave its mark on the century and the future we are in, and especially we approach our cooperation with friendly countries from this perspective. Our goal is primarily to ensure that our business people, despite the global economic challenges, Our aim is to increase flexibility and ease of doing business. We also operate our Turkey-Uzbekistan Joint Economic Commission mechanism in this direction, we strive to add value to the value you produce. I sincerely believe that this meeting, which brings together the parties and the decisions we will take at the 6th Joint Economic Commission Meeting, will further strengthen our commercial and economic relations, and I wish them good luck.”
Oktay mentioned that Uzbekistan is in a strategic position due to both its political geography and historical ties, which are neighbors with all the states in Central Asia.
Stating that the development of Uzbekistan is important not only for the Uzbek people, but also for the welfare and stability of the region, Oktay made the following assessments:
“Historically, the heir of the world’s most ancient trade route, the Silk Road, Uzbekistan has become the center of gravity in its region in the era we live in, which is defined as the ‘Asian Century’. Despite the global epidemic crisis, our trade volume with Uzbekistan was 93 percent in the first five months of 2021 compared to the previous year. Our goal is to continue this momentum until the end of the year, to reach our target of 2023 as soon as possible and to leave the target of 5 billion dollars behind. Despite the negative atmosphere in the world, the increase in our bilateral trade with Uzbekistan has ensured that we have achieved our goals. It is the clearest indicator that we will reach new records by exceeding
We have many businessmen who have come to Uzbekistan since the first day of its independence and made Uzbekistan their second home. Our Turkish business people doing business in Uzbekistan, which rebuilt its infrastructure and modernized its means of production rapidly, bring a significant amount of know-how to Uzbekistan while presenting their experience in Turkey to our ancestral homeland. Affordable and high standard Turkish origin machinery and equipment used in many sectors, especially in construction, textile, food processing and agricultural equipment, are especially preferred by Uzbek investors and business people.
“We can easily exceed 5 billion dollars in trade volume”
Oktay stated that the short-term achievements of qualified companies that bring Anatolia’s experience to Uzbekistan in strategic sectors such as construction, energy and mining are an indication that they will achieve many successes as long as they maintain their will for cooperation.
Pointing out that the total investment of Turkish-owned companies in Uzbekistan is close to 1 billion dollars and that Turkey has consistently maintained its place among the top five trade partners of Uzbekistan, Oktay said:
“Turkish companies, which are in the top three in the ranking of foreign companies with the number of Turkish capital companies approaching two thousand, are in the first place in the list of newly established foreign capital companies in Uzbekistan in 2020 and in the first half of 2021. We are proud of your successes, and present the most prestigious projects of Uzbekistan to Turkish companies. We are proud of the disciplined, prudent and reliable image of our Turkish business people, which exists in Uzbekistan as well as in every region where they do business, completing their projects on time, and the diversification of the import-export product range.
If we can say that we can easily exceed 5 billion dollars in trade volume, this is thanks to the trust we have in you. Our belief that we will stand in the strongest way against global challenges stems from the win-win cooperation of our business people, which you have established side by side, shoulder to shoulder. However, it is not possible for us to consider neither our trade volume, nor the number of investors, nor the areas we cooperate with sufficient. We always expect more when the generous Uzbeks of my ancestral homeland, who raise mountains from its bosom, on the one hand, and the business people of Anatolia, who carry our flag all over the world, on the other hand.”
“May the brotherhood of Turkey and Uzbekistan be eternal”
“In the coming period, we can strengthen our cooperation with joint investments in the automotive, defense industry, construction machinery, white goods, agricultural product processing, food industry and pharmaceutical industry.” Oktay stated that it is extremely important that collaborations do not lag behind digital transformation, and that they achieve a structure that produces technology and added value.
Emphasizing that they will be able to produce groundbreaking technologies in line with the spirit of the time, while continuing their investments in strong fields such as contracting, textile or energy, which form the basis of cooperation, Oktay concluded his speech as follows:
“We can cooperate with our software developers, data analysts, artificial intelligence experts and start-up manufacturers for tomorrow’s technologies. It is a fact that the first scientific foundations of rapidly changing technologies in history were laid in these lands today. It is a fact that Biruni, Ali Kuşçu, Uluğ Bey were raised. This is the civilization that illuminates the ages and these values belong to all of us. Let’s revive this spirit together, let’s create world-wide applications, platform ideas, and brand new groundbreaking technologies together. With our scientists, investors, everyone who puts their sweat and mind to create value, Turkey-Uzbekistan Together, we can achieve this. I invite our Turkish business people to take advantage of the investment opportunities in Uzbekistan and establish new partnerships with Uzbek companies. I also call out to Uzbek companies. Evaluate the trade and joint investment opportunities in Turkey, let’s win together in a family climate. . Cover With the projects we will implement within the framework of a clear vision, the current prosperity will increase even more, and significant contributions will be made to the establishment of peace, tranquility and stability not only in our countries but also in our region. May the brotherhood between Turkey and Uzbekistan be eternal. Our volunteerism leads to many cooperation and success; May it be an occasion for new centuries to walk together from Central Asia in brotherhood.”
Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Serdar Umurzakov, Deputy Minister of Environment and Urbanization Fatma Varank, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Şeref Kalaycı, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Serdar Çam, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Çetin Ali Dönmez, Deputy Minister of Trade Sezai Uçarmak , Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Selim Dursun, AK Party Istanbul Deputy Halis Dalkılıç and Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) President Nail Olpak.
