Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Shehbaz Sharif meeting in Islamabad. Photo: Press service of the President of Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan and Pakistan have formed a portfolio of joint investment projects worth nearly $3.5 billion, including initiatives in agriculture, electrical engineering, geology, pharmaceuticals, and the food industry. The program of economic cooperation was prepared as part of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s visit to Islamabad, his press service reported.
Trade and economic ties were one of the main topics in Mirziyoyev’s talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The sides emphasized that the current visit by the Uzbek leader comes in the year marking the fifth anniversary of the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries.
During this period, bilateral trade increased 2.5 times to about $500 million, while the number of joint ventures and projects nearly tripled. In the near term, the goal is to raise trade turnover to $2 billion. To that end, the parties agreed to significantly expand the range of goods under the preferential trade agreement and to make more active use of Uzbekistan’s trade houses in Lahore and Karachi.
An agreement was also reached to create a Uzbek-Pakistani Business Council, which is expected to strengthen partnerships between business communities in both countries.
Special attention was given to the development of transport and logistics. The parties stressed the need to accelerate construction of the Trans-Afghan railway and to advance the Pakistan–China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan transport corridor.
As noted during the meeting of the two leaders, cooperation at the regional level could become a key driver of stronger economic ties. A joint Regions Forum will therefore be established soon, with its first meeting to be held this year in Uzbekistan’s Khorezm region.
Other aspects of partnership were also discussed, including the development of systematic cooperation in pilgrimage tourism. To promote closer ties between the two nations, Uzbekistan Culture Weeks and Uzbek Cinema Days will be held in Pakistan. A joint cultural center dedicated to the study of Baburid heritage will also open in Lahore.
Mirziyoyev separately thanked Sharif for naming a street in Islamabad “Tashkent.” In turn, the Uzbek president announced the creation in the Pakistani capital of a park named after statesman and poet Zahiriddin Muhammad Babur as a gift to the people of Pakistan ahead of the country’s Independence Day celebrations.
During the visit, Mirziyoyev was also awarded the titles of honorary doctor and professor by Pakistan’s National University of Sciences and Technology.
Following the high-level meeting, the sides signed a Joint Declaration and about 30 documents in priority areas of cooperation, including:
✅ an agreement on cooperation in port services and the provision of discounts;
✅ an agreement on cooperation in mining and geology;
✅ an agreement on cooperation in digital and information technologies;
✅ an agreement on cooperation in radiation and nuclear safety;
✅ an agreement on cooperation in anti-corruption efforts;
✅ a defense ministry–to–defense ministry roadmap.
