On September 27 this year ISRS Director Eldor Aripov met with newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Uzbekistan Ahmed Farooq.

Taking the opportunity, the head of ISRS congratulated the guest on the commencement of his activity as Ambassador of Pakistan to our country.

In the course of the conversation, the sides discussed the current state and further prospects of Uzbek-Pakistani relations, as well as topical issues of international and regional agenda, including the situation in Afghanistan.

Recently, relations between Uzbekistan and Pakistan have been dynamically developing and have reached the level of strategic partnership.

One of the key areas of bilateral interaction is the development of trade, economic and investment cooperation.

In this context, it was noted that the volume of bilateral trade turnover increased more than 6.5 times compared to the 2016 figure (from $36.5 million to $239.5 million in 2022). A roadmap has been adopted to increase the level of mutual trade to $1 billion in the near future. Cooperation is actively developing in transportation, agriculture, light industry, pharmaceuticals and other sectors.

Particular attention at the meeting was also paid to the prospects for deepening interconnectedness between Central and South Asia.

In this context, the sides focused on the issues of expanding the transport and communication component of cooperation, in particular, the implementation of the Trans-Afghan Transport Corridor. It was emphasized that this project is of strategic importance for expanding trade and economic ties, ensuring stability and sustainable development of the countries of Central and South Asia.

The sides also noted with satisfaction the high level of interaction between the analytical structures of Uzbekistan and Pakistan, which contributes to the development of new ideas and proposals to strengthen Uzbek-Pakistani relations.