Pakistan signs 9 MoUs with Uzbekistan to expand trade

Syed Naveed Qamar, the federal minister of commerce, and Khodjave Jamshid Abdukhakimovich, the deputy prime minister of Uzbekistan, signed several memoranda of understanding on Monday.

Syed Naveed Qamar, Pakistan’s Minister of Commerce, and Khodjaev Jamshid Abdukhakimovich, Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, co-chaired the signing session.

The aim of the conference was to discuss the steps taken by the two nations and to develop an action plan to increase trade to USD $1 billion.

The following points and a Joint Action Plan suggested by Uzbekistan were agreed upon by the two parties.

1. The Pak-Uzbekistan Preferential Trade Agreement will go into effect on February 1, 2023, as the Uzbek side will finish its internal procedures in January 2023 while the Pakistan side has already finished its formalities. Both parties concurred that business communities in both nations should begin awareness programmes.
2. Implementation of the Uzbekistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (AUPTT): Uzbekistan is expected to announce the rules in February 2023.
3. Both sides agreed to travel Kabul together in the last week of January 2023 to discuss all concerns with Afghan officials after drafting a shared agenda that would be submitted to the Afghan side in order to resolve the problems being faced by the Pakistani/Uzbek transporters.
4. To develop a joint strategy for transit trade through Afghanistan, the parties came to an agreement. The preparation of a regional framework for transit and trade will include a joint fund or mechanism for maintaining Afghanistan’s road infrastructure.
5. The Pakistani side pledged its complete support after the Uzbek side notified them that Uzbekistan would join the WT in 2023.
6. The Pakistani side provided full facilitation, and the Uzbek side demanded an Off Dock Terminal for Uzbek Cargo at Karachi.
7. Both parties decided to set up trade shows in each other’s nations and create an e-commerce cooperation plan.
8. Both parties agreed to finalise the MRA for the SPS Measures as soon as possible.
9. The Pakistani side promised to educate the business community of the Termiz Economic Zone and the incentives provided when the Uzbekistan side notified them of them.