Berlin, 2 May 2023 (TDI): On May 2-3, 2023, the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, will be in Germany for visit, aiming at Uzbekistan-Germany long term cooperation.
Germany, one of the world’s leading powers and a confident leader in various sectors and spheres of the global economy, is Uzbekistan’s reliable and time-tested partner in Europe.
Historical Visits
The first official visit of the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, to Germany on January 20-22, 2019, as well as the return visit of the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to Uzbekistan on May 27-29 the same year have given a powerful impetus to the further development of the bilateral partnership.
On March 12, 2021, the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Angela Merkel held an online summit during which they exchanged views on implementation of the agreements reached at the highest level, as well as on the current international agenda and interaction within global and regional structures.
Importance of Visit
Today, the partnership between the two countries is multifaceted, covering trade, economic, investment and technological areas. The two nations have worked out fruitful cooperation in security, human rights protection, environment protection, science and education, expansion of cultural ties and tourism exchange.
Uzbekistan’s constructive cooperation with the Federal Republic of Germany on issues of global and regional agenda has also been realized in multilateral formats – within the United Nations, OSCE and other agencies. Tashkent and Berlin hold similar or coinciding positions on many issues, including the fight against terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking, and the situation in Afghanistan.
Parliamentary Group Germany-Central Asia
In 2016, the Uzbekistan-Germany cooperation group was established in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis. Meanwhile, the parliamentary group “Germany – Central Asia” has been functioning in the German parliament since 1994.
To discuss bilateral relations, regular political consultations between the foreign ministries of Uzbekistan and Germany have been established, which is an effective mechanism.
Various organizations, such as the Konrad Adenauer and Friedrich Ebert foundations, the Foundation for International Legal Cooperation at the Ministry of Justice of Germany, and the German Society for International Cooperation, have been actively cooperating with their partner organizations in Uzbekistan for years.
They have been implementing various projects in areas such as civil society development, jurisprudence, judicial and legal issues, and information and communication technologies. These contacts are currently developing dynamically.
Germany provides active support to strengthen friendship, good-neighborliness, trust, and partnership relations in Central Asia. To this end, they promote regional infrastructure projects in transport and energy.
The high level of cooperation between Uzbekistan and Germany is best illustrated by trade and investment indicators. Germany has been a traditional key partner in these areas.
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Boost in Bilateral Trade
Over the last half-decade, there has been a significant boost in bilateral trade between Germany and Uzbekistan, with an overall increase of 24%. In 2022, the growth rate for mutual trade surpassed 51%, and Uzbekistan’s exports to Germany also saw an increase of 21%.
Uzbekistan has a total of 219 enterprises that have received investments from German entities, including 97 individual enterprises. Some notable German companies with a presence in the Uzbek market include “Deutsche Kabel,” “Knauf,” “Claas,” “Papenburg,” and “Falk Porsche.”
In addition, Uzbekistan has established partnerships with other leading companies such as “Siemens,” “BASF,” “Thissen Group,” “Roland Berger,” and “Adidas Group.” Furthermore, financial cooperation has been established with top German banks such as “Deutsche Bank,” “Commerzbank,” and “Landesbank.”
The German-Uzbek Business Council and the Intergovernmental Working Group on Trade and Investment, both established in 2015, are actively promoting economic, trade, and investment cooperation. In July of last year, more than 100 delegates from major German companies participated in a meeting of the German-Uzbek Business Council in Tashkent. Following the meeting, a roadmap for implementing investment projects worth around 400 million euros was agreed upon.
Other Bilateral Cooperations
During the Seventh Meeting of the Council held in Berlin on February 28, 2023, more than 60 representatives from leading German companies attended and adopted a roadmap for implementing agreements reached. Germany has been increasing its support for political and socio-economic reforms in Uzbekistan by providing financial and technical assistance in areas such as agriculture, water management, legal system development, education, healthcare, and trade.
As a result of the strengthened Uzbek-German cooperation, the interest of Uzbek citizens in studying the German language and education in Germany has increased. Currently, there are over 300,000 schoolchildren in Uzbekistan, and 19,000 students studying the German language. German is taught in-depth at 24 schools, six of which have the right to issue a German language diploma, located in Tashkent, Samarkand, Margilan, Fergana, Andijan, and Bukhara. Additionally, more than 4,000 Uzbek postgraduates and doctoral candidates study in various universities in Germany.
In October and November 2022, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock visited Uzbekistan and held a meeting with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. During her visit, Berbock also visited School No. 60, an educational institution with in-depth study of German. Education is an important area of bilateral Uzbek-German cooperation, and in 2021, the New Uzbekistan University was established in Tashkent in partnership with Munich Technical University, with Professor Wolfgang A. Herrmann, Honorary Rector of Munich Technical University, becoming its Rector.
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The Goethe Institute, the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association, and the Central Agency for Schools Abroad operate successfully in Uzbekistan. Tashkent-Berlin and Bukhara-Bonn partnerships have also been established as part of active public diplomacy and interregional cooperation, with fruitful cultural and educational exchanges and sustainable development projects carried out jointly.
Around 6,500 ethnic Germans live in Uzbekistan, maintaining their national traditions and culture while cherishing close ties with Germany. These citizens of German nationality are considered an integral part of Uzbek society and a linking bridge between the two states.
Given Germany’s experience in ecology, Uzbekistan has expressed particular interest in cooperation in environmental protection. Combatting the consequences of the Aral Sea crisis is an integral part of the partnership between the two countries, with specific environmental and social projects in the Aral Sea region launched under the German Foreign Office’s “Green Central Asia” initiative.
The contemporary development of bilateral relations indicates Germany’s unwavering support for Uzbekistan’s new course of democratic transformation and the reaching of bilateral relations to a qualitatively new level based on mutual respect and interests. The forthcoming top-level Uzbek-German summit is anticipated to raise the strategic partnership between the two nations to a qualitatively new level and facilitate the joint determination of longer-run common directions of cooperation.
