Amb. Prabhat wants Uzbekistan in INSTC
The Uzbekistan Ambassador to India Dilshod Akhatov has called for a joint feasibility study for a preferential trade agreement between his country and India, which will contribute significantly to further improve trade and business.
“We are looking forward to establishing much stronger relations in sectors like agriculture, energy, pharmaceuticals, textiles, leather, ICT, and tourism,” the envoy told the ‘India-Uzbekistan Business Forum’ webinar, organized by FICCI on 21 Oct 2020.
“Uzbekistan is highly interested in the implementation of joint projects in the fields of pharma, healthcare, education, and social and infrastructure developments,” he said.
“Economic and trade potential of both countries are not fully utilized, and we need to mutually increase our volume of qualitative trade through improvement in bilateral trade,” he said.
India occupies a special place in his country’s foreign policy, assured Akhatov.
Uzbekistan can be a part of the International North-South Transport Corridor, one of the largest economic initiative between India and Central Asia, said the Indian ambassador Manish Prabhat on furthering bilateral relations with Uzbekistan.
“We are working on the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and Uzbekistan can also become its member,” said Manish Prabhat, the Indian Ambassador to Uzbekistan.
“An air corridor between India and Central Asia is also being worked on. Indian carriers should also target direct flights to Uzbekistan,” he told the webinar.
Prabhat emphasized the need for enhanced air connectivity between the two countries.
He also urged the Indian freight forwarders to come together to establish a profitable trade route.
He underlined the importance of strategic relations between Indian and Uzbekistan that would further translate into close cooperation in all areas, including trade, economy, and investments.
Highlighting the trade and investment opportunities for Indian companies, Prabhat said, “Uzbekistan is providing a lot of investment opportunities in various greenfield and brownfield projects. There are tax benefits that Indian industries can avail of and various regions in Uzbekistan provide distinct possibilities for investments. There is a lot of untapped potentials, which both sides need to look into.”
There is a lot of potentials that still needs to be tapped to achieve the Indian government’s US$1 billion annual bilateral trade target between the two countries. “We have reached only one-third of our target so far,” he added.
He informed that the government is working on extending the Line of Credit between India-Uzbekistan along with establishing a bilateral investment treaty and preferential trading arrangements.
“All of this will lead to greater cooperation and more investments. Governmental measures will go on to create a business environment to meet the target, but we should not lose the opportunity of the existing trade basket and take it forward,” Prabhat stressed.
Prabhat also said that despite the current pandemic, the trade between the two countries was rising continually.
In July 2020, the Uzbekistan Government further simplified its import procedures for the medical equipment and pharma sector, said the envoy.
“Apart from the pharma exporters, our exporters need to be very watchful of various developments and try to explore all opportunities,” he said.
“We are looking at the implementation of several projects from the Indian line of credit in priority development sectors of Uzbekistan. This will give Indian companies an opportunity to showcase their capabilities along with Uzbek companies,” said Dr. Adarsh Swaika, Joint Secretary, Eurasia Division, Ministry of External Affairs.
“We need to focus on new areas of engagement such as energy, pharmaceuticals, auto, agro-products, and education,” he said.
The COVID-19 has further underlined the need for having a multi-modal transport corridor, according to Harjinder Kaur, Co-Chair, India-Uzbekistan Forum for Business and Entrepreneurship & Immediate Past President, FICCI Ladies Organization.
“India-Uzbekistan economy will further gain if we are able to address the issue of connectivity from our nation to our extended neighbourhood,” she said.
Kaur highlighted that global businesses are realigning their business strategies and looking for newer markets for expansion.
Adkham Ikramov, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan; Saurabh S Dhanorkar, Non-Executive & No-Independent Director, Finolex Industries Ltd; Mukhtar Umarov, Chairman of the Association of Exporters of Uzbekistan; Avinash Upadhye, Director of Representative in Moscow & Head, International Business Development for Russia, CIS & East Europe, L&T; Bahodir Kamilov, Advisor to the CEO of MBM Trade Group also shared their perspective on business potential between India and Uzbekistan at the webinar. #exports #trade #banking #financing #investment #airlines #aviation /fiinews.com
