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International Islamic Trade and Finance Corporation (ITFC) launches "Trade Connect Central Asia+ program

Within the framework of the Tashkent International Investment Forum, a roundtable of the International Islamic Trade and Finance Corporation was held to launch the Trade Connect Central Asia+ (TCCA+) program. Ministers and politicians of the region, as well as heads of international organizations and financial institutions gathered at a roundtable to discuss ways to unlock interregional trade and investment potential in the context of the launch of the TCCA+ program. Speakers who participated in the roundtable: Serdar Jorayev– minister of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan; Ahurboy Solehzoda, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO, ITFC Abdulla Hashimov - Advisor to the Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan; Nazira Nurbayeva - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan; Sanzharbek Bolotov - Deputy Minister, Ministry of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic Yusif Abdullayev - Executive Director of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Support Agency; Ibrahim Shoukry, Head of IsDB Regional Hub Rupa Chanda, Director of the Trade, Investment and Innovation Division of ESCAP Simon Quijano-Evans, Chief Economist, Gemcorp, who moderated the roundtable, congratulated the parties on the successful launch of this program. Hani Salem Sonbol in his speech he mentioned the production and export potential and investment attractiveness of Central Asia, especially Uzbekistan. He noted that the available opportunities have not been fully utilized. And now an opportunity is being created to utilize this potential. Speaking at the round table, Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Nazira Nurbayeva, speaking about the work to be carried out within the framework of this program, noted the attention paid by the leaders of both countries to the further development of economic cooperation: "Thanks to the support of the leaders of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the annual turnover of mutual trade last year exceeded $4 billion. Now this figure is planned to increase to $10 billion. A lot of work is being done in this regard. In particular, 56 joint ventures have been launched between the two countries, 51 of which are located in Uzbekistan and another 5 in Kazakhstan. It is also planned to launch 46 new projects worth $3.6 billion. In addition, we can mention the Central Asian Economic Corridor. This corridor allows connecting to Europe through Belarus - Russian Federation - Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan - Afghanistan - Pakistan. For information, TCCA+ is a flagship initiative and flagship regional economic cooperation program launched by ITFC, a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group.