Türkiye, Uzbekistan look to boost trade volume level to $10B

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country and Uzbekistan are targeting a $10-billion trade volume.

“Our trade volume last year increased by nearly 72 percent to surpass $3.6 billion,” Erdogan said at a news conference alongside Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Tuesday.

“I believe that we will obtain our $5 billion target in the shortest span of time — in a year as per our goal...we will further raise the bar to the level of $10 billion with the joint steps we will take subsequently,” he added.

Erdogan, on a visit to Uzbekistan, also said Türkiye was the first country to recognise Uzbekistan’s independence and open an embassy in Tashkent. 

He also drew attention to the strong ties of common history, culture, language and faith between the two nations.

“We have promoted the relations between our countries to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership level as a result of our talks,” he said.

READ MORE: Türkiye and Uzbekistan agree to further strengthen bilateral relations

Strong bilateral ties

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on March 4, 1992, months after Uzbekistan declared its independence on August 31, 1991.

Türkiye is among Uzbekistan's top five trade partners. Tashkent and Ankara marked three decades of diplomatic relations on March 4.

Though relations have had their ups and downs, President Erdogan's visit to Samarkand in November 2016 bolstered the bilateral relationship.

A new era in ties began with the meeting of President Erdogan and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev during that trip.

In October 2017, less than a year after taking office as president, Mirziyoyev became the most senior Uzbek official to visit Türkiye in 21 years.

The Uzbekistan-Türkiye relations were raised to the level of strategic partnership in 2017 as a result of the close friendship and political will between the countries' presidents.

Uzbekistan officially joined the Organisation of Turkic States in 2019 and is expected to host the annual summit of the organisation on November 11.

READ MORE: How did Türkiye-Uzbek relations improve after two decades of stagnation?