Expert: Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan have potential to increase trade

Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan have significant untapped potential for increasing mutual trade Nargiza Umarova, an expert at the Institute for Advanced International Studies of Uzbekistan, told journalists, Report informs.

"Certainly, relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan have seen accelerated momentum in recent years. This is evident not only in transportation, but also in energy and economic cooperation. I would like to note that over the past eight years, we have increased our mutual trade turnover almost eightfold. But it is still relatively low. We have untapped potential and room for growth," she noted.

According to her, there is extensive potential for cooperation in the field of transport, particularly in the development of the Middle Corridor, in which Azerbaijan is a driving force. "This project essentially involves all Central Asian countries, and Uzbekistan is taking a proactive stance," she emphasized.

Umarova believes that there are other multimodal corridors connected to the Middle Corridor and aimed at developing freight transport from Central Asian countries and China to the South Caucasus and beyond.

The expert emphasized that she recently visited Azerbaijan and Georgia to discuss the prospects for developing the Middle Corridor, which will create opportunities for increasing mutual trade between Central Asian and South Caucasian countries and enhancing the transit potential of these regions.

"For example, the countries of the European Union and China, especially China, are increasingly focusing on overland transport, where our regions play a critical role," she added.

Umarova emphasized that over the past three years, there has been growth in cargo traffic along the Middle Corridor – by 2024, the growth was 462%, with cargo volume reaching 4.5 million tons.

The expert believes that Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan could also cooperate in expanding the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan transport project to the Caspian Sea, with a connection to Azerbaijan.