“THE’Uzbekistan He is a very, very important partner. Ours are solid relationships, excellent for a long time. Already since 2023 we have tried to bring them to another level with the strategic partnership and now with the attempt to strengthen the partnership even more. “Words of the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Samarkand in a moment open to the press of the meeting with the Uzbeka delegation led by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, after the bilateral held today.
The agreements taken
In the meeting Meloni and Mirziyoyev signed a joint declaration that provides agreements between Italy and Uzbekistan, with overall investments for beyond 3 billionin addition to a strategic dialogue and mixed economic commission.
On the mutual investment front between the two nations, the agreements concern “migration and training, culture”, starting from the “projects that are already in place with the Polytechnic of Turin and theUniversity of Pisa “In which other universities can be involved, up to the matter of agriculture, energy and criticism raw materials”. A “360 degree cooperation -underlined the Premier -. Already at present there are projects in progress, agreed two years ago during our historical meeting in Rome, but today we bring our relationships to a new level of quality”.
During the meeting, Giorgia Meloni highlighted the breadth of the areas where it is possible to strengthen the Cooperation between Italy and Uzbekistanunderlining with satisfaction the concrete approach adopted immediately to start a structured work on all issues deemed priority. “I am very happy – added the Premier – to have honored the commitment made with her to come to Uzbekistan for the first visit to the Central Asia region. I want to thank her for the extraordinary welcome that she has reserved for me and the Italian delegation: she has shown a really out of the ordinary friendship and I am very grateful for this”.
The next stages
The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, started yesterday a strategic mission in Asia Centralwith a first stop today in Samarkand. It is in fact the first meeting at the level of the leader in 1+5 formatlaunched from Italy in 2019 with the first ministerial summit in Rome, followed by the appointments of Tashkent (2021) and Rome again (2024).
After Uzbekistan, the Premier will go to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to participate on May 30 at the Astana International Forum. Meloni will speak in one of the plenary sessions of the forum, which proposes itself as a dialogue platform between central Asia and the global community. On the sidelines of the event, Meloni will meet President Kazakh, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Italy, which is the third commercial partner of Kazakhstan, has long started a structured dialogue with central Asia, aware of its growing strategic weight. The summit will end with the adoption of a joint declaration that will define the priorities of regional cooperation in strategic areas such as energy, critical raw materials, sustainable management of water resources, safety (in particular against terrorism and drug trafficking), connectivity and academic and professional training.
During the mission, the Prime Minister will also have talks with the leaders of the other countries in the area: Sadir Japarov (Kyrgyzstan), Emomali Rahmon (Tagikistan) and Serdar Berdimuhamed (Turkmenistan). The meetings aim to consolidate bilateral relationships and explore new forms of political, economic and regional collaboration.
