On 11 March 2020, Riga hosted political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Uzbekistan. Latvia was represented in the talks by the Under Secretary of State and Political Director, Jānis Mažeiks, and the Uzbek delegation was headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dilshod Akhatov.
Jānis Mažeiks highlighted Latvia’s interest to intensify the political dialogue and exchange visits by high-ranking officials, thereby also promoting business cooperation. The Political Director praised reforms launched in Uzbekistan and he confirmed that Latvia was prepared to go ahead with support for reforms. Deputy Minister Akhatov noted that Latvia’s experience gathered in legislative drafting, the justice sector, the fight against corruption, e-governance, and digital economy could be valuable for Uzbekistan. The officials shared opinions on the ways for further cooperation in transport and logistics, environmental protection, tourism and the health sector.
Cooperation in the education sector was rated by the diplomats as especially successful: around 1400 Uzbek nationals are studying in Latvia, and Latvian higher education institutions have set up their branches in Uzbekistan. Dilshod Akhatov noted that there is shortage of specialists in some areas in Uzbekistan, for instance, engineering and law, therefore the country would like to develop cooperation with Latvian universities in those areas.
Deputy Minister Akhatov thanked Latvia for its active involvement in the formation of relations between the European Union and Central Asia, in particular, with the EU Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA) implemented by a consortium led by the State Border Guard of Latvia.
The EU Strategy for Central Asia confirms that the EU is prepared to continue support for regional cooperation, economic cooperation and reforms in Central Asia, Jānis Mažeiks underlined. Stability in Afghanistan is key to the development of the Central Asian region. The Political Director commended Uzbekistan’s efforts to engage Afghanistan in the regional trade and connectivity processes.