On June 21, President of Azerbaijan arrived in Uzbekistan on a two-day official visit. Issues concerning expansion of economic cooperation will be considered in the course of negotiations with Uzbekistan leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Tashkent and Baku expect mutual investments, Uzbekistan media reports. In the transport sector the emphasis will be put on the development of multimodal corridors in the Caspian region, opening into Turkey and further on to Europe through the Baku port.

Initially, the visit of the Azerbaijani President was planned in the summer of 2020, however, its dates changed several times due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation.But, the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, on the contrary, increased, experts say.

In particular, the trade turnover between the two countries has grown almost sevenfold, from $17.1 million in 2016 to $118.8 million in 2021. According to the results of the first three months of 2022, the indicators increased by 20%.

According to the director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Eldor Aripov, the goal is "to bring the volume of trade in the near future to half a billion dollars."

Samarkand will host the SCO summit (Shanghai cooperation organization) in the fall of 2022. The leaders of the SCO member states expressed their consent to attend Uzbekistan. President of the Russian Federation Vladimir V. Putin is also among those who will visit Uzbekistan.
Preparation for the summit is currently underway in Samarkand.