Uzbekistan stands for broadening Russian business presence in its territory, establishment of joint high-tech productions - PM

SAMARKAND. Dec 2 (Interfax) - Uzbekistan stands for broadening Russian business presence in its territory and sees a potential in various economic sectors, Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov said at a plenary meeting of the Uzbek-Russian business forum in Samarkand on Friday.

"We are interested in broadening Russian business presence in Uzbekistan. [...] Please note that Russia is a major partner, investment partner of Uzbekistan," Aripov said.

Aripov noted high rates of the bilateral trade growth. "The trade turnover has more than tripled in the past four years, and the growth reached 30% over the first ten months of this year. Considering the available opportunities, we can count on further increase of these readings," he said.

Accumulated Russian investment in the Uzbek economy tops $13 billion, Aripov said.

"Despite the existent challenges and restrictions, we can see a prospect of further substantial expansion of cooperation with our Russian partners," he said.

In his words, there is a big potential for industrial cooperation, as well as interaction in agricultural production, food, textile, electro-technical, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, and manufacturing of construction materials.

"We need to step up our efforts towards the establishment of joint high-tech production facilities and broaden cooperation to make products in demand on the market," Aripov said.