KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 (NNN-Bernama) — Uzbekistan is keen on deepening relations with Malaysia on the basis of traditional friendship and will be working to further strengthen its mutually beneficial cooperation with Malaysia in three pillars – economy including trade and investment, education and tourism spheres.
Uzbekistan’s Ambassador to Malaysia Ravshan Usmanov said that Malaysia has good experience in these fields and his country will try to learn Malaysia’s best practices to introduce the country’s modern technologies and management skills in Uzbekistan.
“In this regard, during this year we are planning to host several Malaysian business delegations in Uzbekistan, to enhance our ties in education, to promote tourism potential of both countries and foster partnerships in other important areas,” he said.
Usmanov was speaking to Bernama in an interview in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kuala Lumpur and Tashkent. Both countries established diplomatic ties on Feb 21, 1992.
Malaysia was the first Southeast Asian country to recognise Uzbekistan as an independent state, on Jan 1, 1992. In 1993, Malaysia established its embassy in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. While the Uzbek embassy in Kuala Lumpur was opened in 1999.
“I would like to emphasise that we perceive Malaysia as a country with very high status not only in Southeast Asia, but in the entire Muslim World, as well as a trustful and time-tested partner of Uzbekistan,” the ambassador further said.
Usmanov pointed out that Uzbek-Malaysian relationship has grown exponentially over the past 30 years and that in particular, reforms introduced by Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev brought warm and friendly bilateral relations between the two nations to a new level and created more possibilities to further enhancing cooperation in every possible sector.
The ambassador said that he was pleased to note that today Uzbekistan and Malaysia enjoy a long-term cooperation in the fields of politics, trade, economy, science, education, culture, tourism, both bilaterally and within the framework of international organisations.
“Although the two countries are separated by their geographical distance, they share many common things. We are confident that the similarities in values, customs and traditions between our people, sacred religion Islam, as well as good interstate relations will serve as a solid basis for the development of our relations,” he further said.
Usmanov explained that the foundation for development of the friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation was laid during the exchanges of official visits of the late Uzbekistan’s first president Islam Karimov in 1992 and the then Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad in 1993. In 2003 Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail visited Uzbekistan when His Majesty was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Besides that, main events in the development of bilateral relations were the State Visit to Malaysia in October 2005 by Karimov and a reciprocal visit of the then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in November 2008, where a number of intergovernmental agreements in the prospective areas of mutual cooperation were signed.
“Talking about the recent major achievements in bilateral relations, we can note the establishment of the Interparliamentary Friendship Groups in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Malaysia and Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis (parliament) of Uzbekistan.
According to Usmanov , currently both sides are working to arrange exchange visits of parliamentary delegations. Two Inter-parliamentary forums were held in June 2020 and April 2021.
“In 2019 we held the fourth political consultations between the foreign ministries and this year planning to arrange the next round of these consultations. We hope that these events form a solid basis for an early resumption of contacts between the leaders of our countries in order to create a basis for further expansion of interaction at various levels,” Usmanov said.
— NNN-BERNAMA
