The trade turnover between Uzbekistan and the EU countries in the first nine months of 2018 increased by 17 percent and amounted to $2.23 billion, Uzbek Foreign Ministry said referring to the meeting on Nov. 23 in Brussels between Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, European Commission Vice President Federica Mogherini.

The parties exchanged views on the agenda of the Central Asia-EU interregional meeting that opened in Brussels, discussed priorities for expanding cooperation between Uzbekistan and the EU, and also noted that the summit scheduled for 2019 will open a new page in the history of bilateral relations.

Mogherini noted that the ongoing large-scale reforms to liberalize the economy in Uzbekistan open up great prospects for a wider presence of European business and investment in the country's market and the growth of mutual trade.

The counterparts also discussed the implementation of the provisions of the Tashkent Declaration, adopted on March 27, 2018 at the international conference on Afghanistan, in which the EU delegation headed by Mogherini participated.

Following the talks, Mogherini handed over to Kamilov the draft Agreement on Expanded Partnership and Cooperation between Uzbekistan and the EU, which is to replace the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between Uzbekistan and the EU in effect from July 1, 1999.