A new momentum for Uzbekistan and the EU enhanced partnership

Former Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the Benelux countries and Head of Missions to the EU and NATO Dilyor Khakimov, who has completed his mission in late October, summarizes achievements of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the Benelux countries and the EU in recent years. Over the past few years thanks to the open, constructive and pragmatic foreign policy of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the joint efforts of the parties, the partnership between Uzbekistan and the EU and its member states has acquired a comprehensive character. Uzbekistan’s multifaceted cooperation with the EU and its member states, including the Benelux countries, has reached a qualitatively new level. Uzbekistan considers the EU as one of the most important international partners. In turn, the EU supports the large-scale democratic and socio-economic reforms under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Uzbekistan and the European Union have established mutually beneficial cooperation in a wide range of areas. An intensive political dialogue is underway. Over the past year, two meetings took place between the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the President of the European Council Charles Michel – in Cholpon-Ata (June 2) and in New York (September 18, 2023). On 27 and 28 October 2022, President Charles Michel visited Uzbekistan and met with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The two leaders have reaffirmed that in recent years the relations between Uzbekistan and the European Union have been elevated to a qualitatively new level and gained a comprehensive nature. Today Uzbekistan and the EU are preparing to conclude a Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA), initialed on June 6, 2022. The signing of this comprehensive document will take bilateral relations to a qualitatively new level and create a modern, solid basis for deepening bilateral cooperation in all dimensions. Uzbekistan takes an active part in promoting interregional dialogue and cooperation between the EU and Central Asia. In 2022, the first Central Asia-EU conference on connectivity was held in Samarkand, which became a historic event in the rapprochement of the two regions. The President of Uzbekistan took part in two “Central Asia-EU” high level regional meetings in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. As a result of the leaders‘ decision, a Joint Roadmap for Deepening Ties between the EU and Central Asia has been developed, which was adopted during the EU-Central Asia Ministerial meeting in Luxembourg on 23 October this year. It supports the commitment of the countries of the Central Asian region and EU member states to develop multifaceted, mutually beneficial cooperation in five key areas: 1) political dialogue; 2) development of trade and economic relations; 3) interaction in the energy sector, including within the framework of the EU Global Gateway strategy and the European Green Deal; 4) cooperation in security issues; 5) as well as in the field of cultural and humanitarian relations. In 2023, the European Parliament adopted a report on Uzbekistan. The document reflects the new geostrategic importance of EU-Central Asia relations, in which Uzbekistan plays a central role, the positive developments in Uzbekistan-EU relations and regional integration initiatives. On 23-25 October 2023 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov visited Luxembourg to participate in the EU-Central Asia Ministerial meeting, as well as in the Global Gateway Forum 2023 in Brussels. During his visit, Minister Saidov engaged in number of meetings with various EU officials, including EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, Jutta Urpilainen, the Commissioner for International Partnerships, and Teresa Chervinska, Vice President of the European Investment Bank. He also discussed perspectives of further development of bilateral relations between Uzbekistan and a number of the EU member states with his European colleagues. At the meetings, the parties confirmed the readiness to further deepen bilateral and multilateral partnerships, develop mutually beneficial and multifaceted cooperation between the EU and Uzbekistan. 8 In the first half of 2024, on the initiative of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, supported by all the Central Asian and EU countries, the first ever EU-Central Asia Summit will be held in Uzbekistan. Economic, trade and investment cooperation between Uzbekistan and the European Union is developing dynamically. An important step in this direction was the granting of GSP+ beneficiary status to Uzbekistan in April 2021, which opened access for a large number of Uzbek goods to the EU market. Uzbekistan’s participation in the GSP+ contributes to the growth of trade volumes. Since the beginning of this year, Uzbekistan’s trade turnover with EU countries has increased by 35%, and large investment projects are being implemented with leading European companies. Bilateral trade turnover in 2022 amounted to 4.5 billion $ and in January-August 2023 to 3.8 billion $. Uzbekistan’s exports to the European Union countries in 2022 increased to 794.6 million $, and in JanuaryAugust 2023 exceeded 787 million $. The Number of enterprises with European capital in Uzbekistan has more than doubled: 1069 in 2023. In bilateral and multilateral dialog, the priority has been given to attracting direct investments, the advanced technologies, best practices and high standards of EU companies to Uzbekistan to facilitate the transition of the country and the region to a „green“ economy. Uzbekistan is interested in strengthening cooperation with the EU in countering climate change and improving the sustainability of ecosystems through the implementation of targeted projects using advanced European knowledge and technologies. In 2021 Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy has signed a 1.2 billlion $ deal with Dutch-registered company Stone City Energy for a gas turbine power plant. Stone City Energy has already started work on the designing, financing, construction, commissioning, operation and management of the 1,560MW power plant over a 25-year period in the Angor district of the Surkhandarya region in southeast Uzbekistan. It is also important to continue implementing projects aimed at mitigating the effects of the drying up of the Aral Sea and rehabilitating the situation in the Aral Sea region by attracting additional funds to the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Human Security. In this context Uzbekistan invited the European Union to co-organize the first International Climate Forum to be held in Samarkand in 2024. Uzbekistan consistently promotes initiatives and projects aimed at developing new international transport and economic corridors connecting our region with the main world markets of Asia, the Middle East and Europe. In modern geopolitical conditions, this has become one of the most important conditions for ensuring the economic security and growth of states, especially in Central Asian region, located in the heart of Eurasia, at a relative distance from the leading seaports and routes. One of the main priorities is the realization of transcontinental transport corridor projects. During the EU-Central Asia meeting in Cholpon-Ata in June 2023, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev put forward a number of initiatives to radically expand trade and economic relations with the EU, primarily through the creation of sustainable trade and logistics chains and effective mechanisms to support mutual supplies, as well as the formation of interconnected transport corridors. In this context, Uzbekistan supports a comprehensive study on sustainable transport links between Europe and Central Asia, which was prepared by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and published by the European Commission as part of the Global Gateway strategy. This paper identifies the 9 most stable transport connections and investment opportunities for improving ties between the countries of Central Asia and Europe. Uzbekistan is consistently expanding cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sphere with the EU and its member states, including the Benelux countries. Over a period of 25 years, more than 80 projects have been implemented jointly with the European Union under the Trans-European mobility scheme for university studies (Tempus) programme, worth 32.2 million €, involving 55 higher educational institutions in Uzbekistan and 71 higher educational institutions in EU member states. The Erasmus+ education program is implementing 43 projects with a budget of more than 36.6 million € to improve the capacity of higher education, involving 65 higher education institutions, more than 20 branch offices and organizations in Uzbekistan, and 117 European higher education institutions. The parties also cooperate actively in the field of human rights and freedoms, democratization and the development of civil society. For instance, the 4th EU-Central Asia Civil Society Forum was successfully organized in Tashkent on 9-10 March 2023. In April this year, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, visited Uzbekistan. Moreover, active cooperation with the Benelux countries is also under way to preserve and promote Uzbekistan’s historical and cultural heritage. In recent years, in close cooperation with the Soviet Field of Glory Foundation, a great work was undertaken to commemorate 101 Uzbek soldiers who were killed in the Amersfoort concentration camp during the Second World War. Remko Reiding, chairman of the Soviet Field of Glory Foundation, which has been working for the past 20 years to immortalize the memory of 101 Uzbek soldiers, has visited Uzbekistan several times over the past few years. On October 2019, the presentation of the novel One Hundred and One, dedicated to the fate of 101 Uzbek soldiers who fell victim to the Amersfoort concentration camp was organized in The Hague. The Embassy of Uzbekistan in the Benelux countries and representatives of the Dutch community annually hold traditional ceremonies dedicated to the memory of Uzbek warriors. (Thanks to H.E. Mr. Dilyor KHAKIMOV, Ambassador in Luxembourg, Brussels and The Hague 2017-2023 for this information)