Iraqis say they are impressed by the operations of Uzbek enterprises – President

Iraqi representatives who have closely familiarized themselves with the operations of enterprises in Uzbekistan have said they were impressed, noting that they previously had little understanding of Uzbek products. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made the remarks on January 15 during a video conference meeting chaired by him on the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Uzbekistan’s diplomatic missions abroad.

During the meeting, the president emphasized the need to strengthen economic diplomacy in order to increase export volumes and attract more investment.

Economic diplomacy serves to elevate human dignity by creating new jobs and increasing incomes and living standards. Economic security, in turn, is regarded as the foundation of state security.

Within the framework of bilateral and multilateral engagements in 2025, agreements were signed on investment projects and trade contracts totaling $160 billion.

For the first time in history, Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover exceeded $80 billion, while exports reached $33.5 billion. Foreign investment also rose sharply, surpassing $43 billion. Notably, export volumes to 75 countries increased by nearly $4.5 billion last year.

It was also noted that if ambassadors work more actively with foreign investors and major companies, there are ample opportunities to further increase these figures.

As an example, Iraq, which has almost no domestic production and imports around $100 billion worth of goods annually to meet internal demand, was described as a promising market for Uzbek manufacturers.

In this regard, the visit of 150 major Iraqi companies to Uzbekistan was positively assessed. Their representatives said they were impressed after closely examining the operations of Uzbek enterprises and admitted that they previously had little knowledge of Uzbek products. They are now planning to open official distributorships for Uzbek companies in Iraq and actively enter Middle Eastern markets.

As a result, agreements have been reached to supply hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of goods to Iraq within this year alone.

It was emphasized that ambassadors in relevant countries should pursue similar efforts with Vietnam, Bahrain, and Portugal by identifying partners and working to enter those markets.