President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov at the Oqsaroy August 15 met with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake.

The senior American diplomat is leading a prominent group of officials representing US government agencies and private companies for the third round of bilateral political consultations due in Tashkent.

Greeting the guest, the head of our state underscored the consistent enhancement and the prolific nature of the Uzbek-American dialogue as well as the shared willingness to boost the mutually advantageous cooperation.

The participants of the meeting discussed the current state and prospects of bilateral relations across critical issues like regular contacts between foreign policy establishments, inter-parliamentary ties, along with multifaceted exchange at the interstate level and among the representatives of civil societies of our two countries. The two sides swapped views and assessments of the developments in Afghanistan and Central Asia in terms of security and stability, along with other issues of shared interest.


The parties to the conversation assigned an important consideration to priority dimensions of bolstering the trade, economic and investment components of interaction. They noted the successful experience of cooperation in this area with participation of such leading American corporations as General Motors, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and many others. Established with the involvement of US investors, 241 enterprises are registered in Uzbekistan. The volume of direct investments has exceeded two billion dollars.

Speaking on behalf of the United States leadership, Robert Blake highly appreciated Uzbekistan’s role in addressing security and sustainable development in the region as well as the peaceful rebuilding of Afghanistan. The Assistant Secretary of State confirmed the US willingness to fill the multilayered partnership with Uzbekistan with new, practical content.

In conclusion, Islam Karimov wished every success for a fruitful joint work during the third round of Uzbek-American political consultations, at which the sides are represented – for the first time – in wider format on the level of ministries and other government agencies along with foremost economic entities.