Nirmala Sitharaman meets Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister in Samarkand

Nirmala Sitharaman. Pic/PTI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is in Uzbekistan, met Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Jamshid Khodjaev, ahead of the 9th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of AIIB, in Samarkand.

The two ministers discussed Strategic Partnership in the areas of, IT, education, digital connectivity, renewable energy, civil applications of nuclear energy and healthcare, ayurvedic medicine, and pharmaceuticals.

Highlighting the phenomenal growth in digital payments ecosystem in India, the Union Finance Minister offered the possibility of Uzbek fintech firms' collaboration with Indian firms to develop innovative products.

Discussions were also held on the potential investment opportunities in IFSC Gift City.

Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Khodjaev assured long-term cooperation with India in various sectors to enhance trade and business opportunities.

Earlier, Nirmala Sitharaman met with Uzbekistan Trade Minister Laziz Kudratov in Samarkand, and discussed areas of mutual interest in renewable energy, fertilisers, and pharmaceuticals, aiming to strengthen economic relations between the two countries.

Sitharaman embarked on a five-day official visit to Uzbekistan on Tuesday.

During the visit, Sitharaman will attend the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) scheduled in Samarkand on Wednesday-Thursday, besides other important bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Uzbekistan, Qatar, China, and AIIB President, the Ministry of Finance had said in a statement.

India is the second largest shareholder of the bank. The multilateral discussions centred around a broad spectrum of important global issues relevant to the development agenda.

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