On October 8-9, the President of Uzbekistan made his first official visit to Europe - to France. Following the trip, 10 bilateral documents were signed, and an agreement was reached on investment projects worth 5 billion euros.

The negotiations between the Presidents of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the French Republic of Emmanuel Macron were held in Paris in the Eliseev Palace on Tuesday, October 9. At the talks, issues of further strengthening the political dialogue between Uzbekistan and France, the development of trade, economic and investment cooperation, and the intensification of cultural and humanitarian exchanges were discussed. Following the talks, the parties signed 10 intergovernmental documents.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev opened a new stage in establishing cooperation with the countries of the so-called “second circle” with a visit to Paris. The first round included the neighboring republics of Central Asia, Russia, China, Turkey and India. France, on the other hand, became the first European country visited by the Uzbek leader since taking office. In addition, this is the first visit of the head of Uzbekistan to Paris in more than 20 years.

Mirziyoyev met with the chairman of the French Senate Gerard Larcher, as well as with the leaders of major French companies Thales Alenia Space, Total, Orano, Fives Stein, Rungis SEMMARIS, Vinci, Suez, SADE, Idemia, Mercier, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, French Agency development, etc. After that, the parties signed investment agreements worth 5 billion euros.

According to the expert, there is no doubt that both Paris and the leadership of Thales Alenia Space see the agreement with Tashkent as a great success. At least because France gets open access to the Central Asian market of satellite signals, where Russia dominates so far. And Thales Alenia, which operates in the fields of aeronautics, space, defense and cybersecurity, is an opportunity to expand the production base and attract new customers to their products.

If for the French side the success is more “quantitative” in nature, then for the Uzbek side it’s qualitative that opens up for the local industry, without exaggeration, space perspectives, which, among other things, enhance the status of Tashkent in the region. According to some experts, after the French proposal, Tashkent should wait for serious proposals from Beijing, Moscow, New Delhi and Ankara.

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