Driven by a boom in Italian exports, trade with Uzbekistan surged by 71 percent in 2018 on the year and Italy is now keen to deepen bilateral cooperation "in all sectors", foreign undersecretary Manlio Di Stefano said on Monday.
"Italy is paying increasing attention to the Central Asia Region, which is especially rich in resources and has a strategic geographical location," Di Stefano said at a meeting he attended in Rome with Uzbekistan's deputy investment and foreign trade minister Bariddin Abidov.
Uzbekistan is "a geo-political capital which appears destined to grow in the coming years, also in relation to East-West connectivity initiatives currently underway," Di Stefano added.
Bilateral trade is already strong in the textiles, leather and agrofood sectors, and Italy is keen to extend economic cooperation to chemicals, energy - notably oil and gas - infrastructure and health, Di Stefano said.
He and Abidov took part in the sixth meeting of the intergovernmental working group on commercial, economic and industrial cooperation and export credits, which came after bilateral political ties were boosted by Di Stefano's visit to Tashkent in mid-November.
