06.10.2017 Ankara
Speaking at the business luncheon attended by Uzbek Prime Minister Vice Prime Minister Jamshid Kuchkarov, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they want to increase investments in and mutual trade with Uzbekistan. While underlining their readiness to cooperate in many sectors, Kuchkarov said that they want to take advantage of the experiences of Turkish businessmen in build-operate-transfer projects.
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarciklioglu and Uzbek Prime Minister Jamshid
Kuchkarov gave a message of determination to increase mutual cooperation,
investment and trade.
The Turkey-Uzbekistan business luncheon was held with the attendance of Prime
Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Kuchkarov and the delegation accompanying him
with TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarciklioglu hosting the event in Ankara. Opportunities
to develop mutual cooperation and trade was discussed at the workshop which
took place at the TOBB Twin Towers. TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that they are focusing on two points in his speech, “The first one is increasing
mutual trade with Uzbekistan and the second is investments. We want to invest
more in Uzbekistan,” he said. Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the trade volume
increased by 3 times over the past 10 years, totaling 1.2 billion dollars. “But
we know that this is far below our potential. One of the important issues in
trade is customs transitions. Especially the land customs gates are important
in our region. In this regard, we have great experience as TOBB. We can build
the world's fastest working and safest border gates in less than a year. Until
today, we have built 10 customs gates of Turkey without costing a single penny
to our government. The gates we built are pointed out by the United Nations as
an example for the whole world. TOBB wants to transfer this experience to
Uzbekistan.”
- We are interested in
investments
Noting that they wanted to invest more in Uzbekistan, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that they are closely monitoring Uzbekistan's projects, “We know that
Uzbekistan is working to improve the investment climate even further,” the TOBB
President said, “In Uzbekistan we want to forget the issues which faced of our
investors in the past. In the new era, we want to focus on new areas of
cooperation and investment.”
- Cooperation in tourism and construction
Pointing out that there are significant cooperation opportunities
between the two countries in tourism, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that he had great
experiences in this sector and that opportunities in tourism should be
explained to Turkish investors. Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that another important
cooperation issue is the construction sector, “Our contractors have become a
world brand. To this end, we want a larger share of projects in Uzbekistan.”
- Kuçkarov urges Turkish
businessmen for build-operate-transfer projects
Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, Jamshid Kuchkarov, also stated that they
are ready to cooperate in the fields of tourism, construction, contracting,
construction materials, chemistry, machinery, agriculture and textiles. Jamshid
Kuchkarov urged Turkish businessmen to participate in build-operate-transfer
projects. Underlining that Turkey has great experience in this area, the visiting
vice-prime minister said, “We are open to all the suggestions in this area.”
Jamshid Kuchkarov said that Uzbekistan is ready to use many means of
financing, and noted that besides Türk Eximbank, China, European countries and
Russian banks are also ready to provide financing. Prime Minister of Uzbekistan
Jamshid Kuchkarov added that they are accelerating their efforts to become a
member of the World Trade Organization.