BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 14. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will visit Baku on October 14–15 to attend the 7th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), which Azerbaijan will host under its chairmanship on October 15, against the backdrop of expanding bilateral cooperation and joint regional initiatives.
Earlier, Uzbekistan's First Deputy Chairman of the Senate, Sodiq Safoev, exclusively told Trend about Mirziyoyev's planned visit on the sidelines of the 2026 CAMCA Regional Forum in Baku.
"As part of the visit, a package of agreements on economic cooperation and the joint development of Karabakh is scheduled to be signed," Safoev said, noting that the strategic partnership between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan had reached an all-time high in recent years.
The upcoming visit will build on active political dialogue between the two countries, which gained fresh momentum in 2026. In August, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid a state visit to Uzbekistan, during which the two sides signed a Treaty on Eternal Friendship and agreed to expand cooperation in trade, investment, energy, transport and other sectors. The leaders are now set to continue their engagement in Baku, including through multilateral diplomacy.
Economic cooperation remains one of the key pillars of the Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan partnership. President Ilham Aliyev previously highlighted that bilateral trade reached $795 million in 2025, a 3.2-fold increase from the previous year. In January-June 2026, mutual trade totaled approximately $170.3 million, up 30.8% year on year, according to Uzbekistan's Ministry of Investment.
At the third meeting of the Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Supreme Interstate Council in Tashkent on August 23, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that bilateral trade had tripled over the previous five years, while the combined portfolio of joint projects had exceeded $5 billion.
Baku and Tashkent have set a target of increasing bilateral trade to $1 billion by 2030. A corresponding program and roadmap were signed in August 2026. However, both presidents see this figure more as an interim milestone than a ceiling on economic cooperation.
"Today, however, we are talking about the goal of reaching $1 billion in trade turnover not as some distant dream, but as something we will probably achieve within a couple of years," President Ilham Aliyev said during his visit to Tashkent.
Growing trade is accompanied by increased investment activity. The Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Investment Company, established in 2023 with a capital of $500 million, supports the implementation of joint projects. At the Supreme Interstate Council meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said that approximately $160 million from the fund had already been earmarked for project financing. The total value of planned investments and projects for which contracts have been signed, however, is significantly higher than the fund's capital.
"The volume of investments for the projects we have envisioned and already contracted significantly exceeds the capacity of the fund," President Ilham Aliyev noted, highlighting cooperation on tourism projects, hotels and residential complexes in Uzbekistan.
The overall portfolio of joint initiatives spans industry, energy, construction, agriculture, tourism and financial services. According to Uzbekistan's National Statistics Committee, 473 enterprises with Azerbaijani capital are operating in the country.
A joint automotive venture between Uzavtosanoat and AzerMash at Azerbaijan's Hajigabul Industrial Park is a practical example of industrial cooperation. The facility has already produced more than 10,000 Chevrolet vehicles and Isuzu buses. The two sides are also exploring a transition to a full production cycle, with investment exceeding $84 million.
Other promising areas include the development of oil and gas fields in Uzbekistan, construction and tourism projects, raw material processing and the production of industrial goods.
Another tangible outcome of closer economic ties is the entry of Azerbaijani bank ABB into the Uzbek market. The ABB Davr project was launched in Tashkent on August 23, with Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Shavkat Mirziyoyev participating online in an event marking the launch and groundbreaking of projects being implemented by Azerbaijan in Uzbekistan.
The project предусматривает ABB's acquisition of a controlling stake in Davr Bank, followed by operations in the Uzbek market under the ABB Davr brand. The relevant agreement was signed on August 22 by ABB Chairman of the Management Board Abbas Ibrahimov and Davr Bank Supervisory Board Chairman Lutfulla Ubaev on the sidelines of the fourth Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum.
Entry into the Uzbek market is in line with ABB's geographic expansion strategy for 2026–2028. The bank plans to provide financial services to corporate and retail customers across Uzbekistan, using digital solutions, artificial intelligence-based technologies and tools to support small and medium-sized enterprises.
"It is a great honor for us that the first historic step in the implementation of ABB Bank's geographic expansion goal for the new strategic period was taken in brotherly Uzbekistan," Abbas Ibrahimov said.
He said the bank viewed the project as the beginning of a long-term presence in the country and aimed to become a financial partner for businesses and individuals. Bilateral cooperation is therefore extending beyond trade and industry to encompass financial services and digital solutions.
A separate area of cooperation concerns the reconstruction of Azerbaijan's liberated territories. President Ilham Aliyev has emphasized that Uzbekistan was the first country to provide practical assistance in this effort. A school named after Mirzo Ulugbek, designed to accommodate nearly 1,000 students, was built in Fuzuli, while a garment manufacturing facility was established in Khankendi with Uzbek participation.
"Naturally, creating jobs in the Karabakh region - especially for women - is currently of paramount importance. Once again, the first investment project to establish a modern production facility and create over 200 jobs is being implemented by the Uzbek side," President Ilham Aliyev said, thanking Mirziyoyev for his support for Karabakh's reconstruction.
These projects demonstrate that the bilateral partnership extends beyond trade and investment to include social infrastructure and job creation. In this context, the planned agreements on the joint development of Karabakh, announced by Safoev in comments to Trend, could build on initiatives already underway.
Energy is another important component of the bilateral agenda. Uzbekistan is seeking investment in gas projects, while Azerbaijan could become a partner in developing the relevant infrastructure. Both countries are also involved in advancing a green energy corridor designed to transmit electricity from Central Asia through Azerbaijan to Europe.
The Middle Corridor as a shared economic opportunity
Transport connectivity is another area where the interests of Baku and Tashkent directly converge. The development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, known as the Middle Corridor, is creating opportunities to expand trade between Central Asia, the South Caucasus and European markets.
In 2025, transit freight between the two countries totaled 1.4 million tons, an increase of 6.7%. In the first half of 2026, the figure reached 675,000 tons, up 12.2% from the same period a year earlier.
Tashkent is also interested in developing Caspian port infrastructure and expanding logistics capacity. As Safoev previously told Trend, Uzbekistan intends to participate in the development of a designated section of the Port of Alat and the Middle Corridor infrastructure.
In August, Mirziyoyev stressed the need for joint efforts in this area. "We will jointly develop the potential of the Trans-Caspian Corridor, improve the efficiency of logistics infrastructure and promote freight transportation. To this end, we will step up efforts to establish a joint fleet in the Caspian Sea," he said.
At the Supreme Interstate Council meeting, the Uzbek president also proposed accelerating the launch of a joint Caspian fleet and considering the creation of a dedicated Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan corridor with a single operator. President Ilham Aliyev, in turn, noted the increase in freight traffic from Uzbekistan through Azerbaijan and the need to expedite the joint fleet project.
Transport cooperation is therefore gradually moving beyond the organization of individual shipments. Its development could help establish more resilient production and logistics chains, reduce dependence on a limited number of routes and strengthen economic ties across the region.
CICA as a platform for broader regional cooperation
Against this backdrop, the CICA summit takes on added significance. Azerbaijan has chaired the organization for 2024–2026, promoting an agenda focused on connectivity, digitalization and sustainable development in Asia. For Baku, the upcoming meeting will also provide an opportunity to consolidate the results of its chairmanship and further strengthen the organization's institutional role.
The agenda of the seventh summit includes peace and security, confidence-building among states, transport infrastructure, digitalization and sustainable economic growth. The adoption of the Baku Declaration and a package of decisions aimed at improving CICA's effectiveness is expected.
For Uzbekistan, participation in the summit offers an opportunity to advance its economic and transport priorities within a broader Asian framework. For Azerbaijan, Tashkent's support is important to the development of interregional ties and closer cooperation between Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
However, engagement between the two countries is not limited to CICA. At the October Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia and Azerbaijan in Awaza, Mirziyoyev proposed moving beyond conventional trade toward the joint production of finished goods.
"We have reached a point where ordinary trade with one another is no longer enough. We need to create finished products together. The formula 'six economies - one product' captures what we should be striving for," the Uzbek president said.
This approach also reflects the economic agenda pursued by Baku and Tashkent: the two countries aim not only to increase bilateral trade but also to establish joint ventures, deepen industrial cooperation and develop new transport and energy links.
Building a common agenda at the presidential level
The sequence of high-level meetings reflects the two countries' determination to translate political agreements into tangible economic results. The signing of the Treaty on Eternal Friendship in August was an important symbolic step, while joint investment and infrastructure projects are laying the practical foundations of the partnership.
Mirziyoyev has described Azerbaijan as a reliable ally, strategic partner and brotherly state, emphasizing the shared historical roots and cultural ties underpinning relations between the two countries. President Ilham Aliyev, in turn, has described Central Asia and Azerbaijan as a single geopolitical and economic region with significant growth potential.
Closer regional engagement has been another important outcome of the political dialogue. At the Supreme Interstate Council meeting, Mirziyoyev noted that Azerbaijan's accession to the Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia had opened up new opportunities for economic and humanitarian cooperation between the two regions. President Ilham Aliyev separately thanked his Uzbek counterpart for supporting Azerbaijan's full participation in the format.
"We always support each other in the bilateral format and across all international organizations in which we participate. This happens automatically," President Ilham Aliyev said.
Such coordination takes on added importance ahead of the CICA summit in Baku. While bilateral mechanisms help the two countries coordinate specific projects and investment priorities, multilateral platforms offer an opportunity to promote common approaches to transport connectivity, economic development and confidence-building across the wider region.
Mirziyoyev's participation in the summit will continue this pattern of engagement. Meetings on the sidelines are expected to give the two sides an opportunity to discuss bilateral projects and coordinate their positions on regional issues.
Further progress will depend on how consistently political agreements are translated into new investment, joint production and efficient transport routes. In this respect, cooperation within CICA complements the bilateral agenda by providing an additional platform for advancing initiatives that link the economic interests of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan with the broader development priorities of Asia.