According to him, the parties are negotiating an agreement on preferential trade. “In the future, we will reach an agreement on a free trade zone. This is what we plan,” said Umurzakov, commenting on the visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Turkey.

The minister noted that over the past three years, bilateral trade more than doubled, and by the end of 2020 the countries expect to have it at $3 billion.

“The presidents set the task to bring trade to $5 billion in the near future. We have every opportunity for this. To achieve such index, we must work with our Turkish partners in close cooperation. First of all, we plan to sign a preferential trade agreement. We have already started the process,” added Umurzakov.

During the negotiations, the sides discussed key tasks for the future, a wide range of issues of interstate cooperation, as well as ways to solve them, and eventually agreed on the implementation of joint projects. A joint statement with some documents on cooperation in the fields of trade, economics, and technology was signed following the first meeting of the Strategic Cooperation Council.

On the second day of the visit, Mirziyoyev met with heads of leading Turkish companies and banks and took part in the opening ceremony of the Nation’s Library.