Uzbekistan to strengthen cooperation with neighboring countries, strategic partners: President

By Bahtiyar Abdulkerimov and Burc Eruygur

TASHKENT / ISTANBUL (AA) - Uzbekistan’s president on Tuesday said that his country will strengthen bilateral cooperation with its neighboring countries and its strategic partners.

"From now on, it will be our main goal to strengthen multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation with all neighboring countries in Central Asia and our strategic partners in the world and international organizations,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev said in an address to parliament.

Reminding that Uzbekistan hosted various diplomatic events, including the heads of state summits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Organization of Turkic States, Mirziyoyev said Uzbekistan has become one of the “centers of world politics.”

He said that Uzbekistan will consistently maintain an open and constructive foreign policy based on mutual trust and respect.

Mirziyoyev also said that reforms will take place within the government and that the way the government works will change radically because there are "repetitive and unnecessary" institutions in the country.

"In the first stage, the ministries will be reformed and the way the government works will change radically. The number of ministries and institutions, which is 61, will be reduced to 28," the president said, adding that the country’s gross domestic product exceeded $80 billion for the first time in 2022.

Mirziyoyev stressed that his government will speed up the work on the harmonization of domestic legislation and implementation of new standards by completing the main negotiations regarding membership to the World Trade Organization in 2023.

"Most importantly, our confidence in our own strength and abilities is increasing day by day. For this reason, we will never turn back from the path we chose, no matter how hard it is. We will definitely reach our goals … If we work together, we will definitely establish the new Uzbekistan that our people want," he added.