Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has encouraged meaningful interactions and collaboration between industry members of India and Uzbekistan. The Minister was addressing the Uzbekistan-India Business Forum at Samarkand in Uzbekistan after the signing of a new Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between the two nations. Ms. Sitharaman urged the business communities on both sides to take advantage of BIT to catapult investment relationships to a new trajectory.

She added that the new BIT is based on modern international investment standards, providing strong protections to investors and fostering an atmosphere of trust and confidence. The Finance Minister said that there are significant trade opportunities between the two nations and urged the chambers of commerce on both sides to draw up a roadmap to achieve a 3 billion dollar trade target set by the two countries’ leadership.