Uzbekistan and Britain have great potential for increasing investment cooperation, said Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Elyor Ganiyev.

“The current level of investment and trade does not correspond to the high potential of our countries. I urge everyone to make efforts so that our cooperation has grown several times. Last year, trade grew by 37%, but we have all the opportunities to increase it further. As for the investment cooperation, I think that here the growth rate should be tenfold. I hope that we use all the opportunities,” Ganiyev noted at the meeting of the Uzbek-British Trade and Industry Council, which is being held in Tashkent today.

The Deputy PM stressed the interest of Uzbekistan in building a “new stage of strategic economic partnership between the countries”, calling for more actively combining the rich resource capabilities of Uzbekistan with modern technologies and the experience of Britain in the implementation of joint projects.

At the same time, he noted that countries have the potential for cooperation in all sectors, since both economies are very deeply diversified. Separately, Ganiev highlighted the potential of tourism infrastructure projects in Uzbekistan.

“We are interested in the development of institutional cooperation with Britain, including the London Stock Exchange. We intend to gradually lead large enterprises and banks of Uzbekistan to IPO. Everyone knows that recently our country received a sovereign credit rating and successfully placed the first Eurobonds for $1 billion. This, among other things, happened in London, we really appreciate it. We have always viewed London as a major global financial center,” Ganiyev added.