Uzbekistan and the Philippines held talks on strengthening cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, and transport, with discussions also covering the launch of direct air services between the two countries.
According to the Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the discussions took place during a Friday meeting between Uzbekistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mirvohid Azimov and Philippine Ambassador to Uzbekistan Roberto Manalo.
The two sides assessed the current state of bilateral relations and explored prospects for further cooperation, with emphasis on strengthening political dialogue and expanding trade, economic, cultural, and humanitarian ties.
The Philippine side reaffirmed its commitment to building mutually beneficial ties with Uzbekistan and emphasized opportunities to strengthen economic and investment cooperation.
Agriculture, chemicals, food processing, and tourism were identified as key sectors with potential to deepen bilateral economic cooperation.
The officials also discussed establishing direct contacts between the two countries’ chambers of commerce and industry to facilitate business collaboration and explore new investment opportunities.
Tourism and transport connectivity were key topics of discussion, with both sides exploring the possibility of establishing direct air links between Uzbekistan and the Philippines, which could boost tourism, facilitate business travel, and strengthen people‑to‑people exchanges. The officials also considered arranging reciprocal familiarization visits for tourism industry representatives, aimed at helping businesses in both countries assess the market and develop new tourism offerings.
“The parties confirmed their mutual readiness to continue joint work on further developing Uzbekistan-Philippines relations and implementing specific mutually beneficial projects,” Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry said.
The meeting comes as Uzbekistan and the Philippines look to deepen economic ties and strengthen institutional and business cooperation and closer links between business organizations.
Both sides agreed to continue dialogue and advance practical cooperation in sectors with the strongest potential for further development.
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