OREANDA-NEWS. On November 07, 2008 The forum of Uzbek and Bulgarian businessmen was held in Tashkent on Thursday in the framework of the visit of the President of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov to Uzbekistan. The event focused on expansion of trade-economic and investment cooperation between the two states, reported the Official website www.investuzbekistan.uz.

Representatives of ministries, departments and companies working in the foreign trade, investments, banking and finance, fuel and energy, construction, machinery building, agriculture, chemical and light industries, healthcare, transport and logistics, IT and telecommunications, sports, culture and tourism participated in the forum.

Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said the visit of the Bulgarian President and the negotiations would serve to further expansion of cooperation between the nations and utilization of the currently unused potential.

Currently, about 20 joint ventures set up with Bulgarian investments operate in Uzbekistan. The exports of Uzbekistan to Bulgaria consist of cotton fiber, ferrous metals, chemical and oil and gas products, vegetables, etc. Imports from Bulgaria include medicaments, plastic products, mechanical equipment, furniture, confectionery, perfumery and other items.

The relations between the two states are based on almost 30 documents signed on the intergovernmental and interdepartmental level. Among them are agreements on mutual stimulation and protection of investments, as well as on economic and scientific-technical cooperation.

The Bulgarian businessmen received information on investing in Uzbekistan and the wide-scale privatization process going on in the country. They were also familiarized with the development of the small business and private entrepreneurship in Uzbekistan.

The business forum participants agreed on strengthening economic relations, increasing the number of joint ventures and development on new joint projects.