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Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan – Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov, via video link, held talks with Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, UZ DAILY reported.

During the negotiations, the current state and prospects of interaction between Uzbekistan and the EU in the political, trade, economic, investment and financial and technical spheres, as well as issues of diversified cooperation and strengthening of transport connectivity of the Central Asian countries were discussed.

The European side welcomed the large-scale socio-economic reforms carried out in Uzbekistan. It was noted that Brussels attaches great importance to the expansion of bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

The European side expressed its readiness to assist in the effective use of the benefits of the EU Generalized System of Preferences “GSP +” provided by the European Union.

The progress achieved in the work on agreeing the draft Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) between the European Union and the Republic of Uzbekistan during the 8th round of negotiations, held from 28 to 30 June of this year in Tashkent, was highlighted. Further steps are outlined to agree on the remaining issues in a number of sections of the document.

The effectiveness of interaction with the EU within the framework of Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO was noted. The possibilities of holding bilateral negotiations on access to the market for goods and services in the near future were considered. The European side expressed its commitment to further provide technical assistance to Uzbekistan in preparing the necessary materials, conducting research, developing recommendations for improving legislation in relevant areas, as well as improving the qualifications of Uzbek experts in matters related to the process of accession to the WTO.