The President Shavkat Mirziyoyev hosted the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb at the Kuksaroy residence today, the presidential press service said.

The two leaders discussed the ways to further strengthen the Uzbek-Finnish ties, primarily in the political, trade, economic, investment, and humanitarian areas.

The counterparts commended the dynamic development of political dialogue and exchanges at various levels, as well as the intensification of business contacts.

Reportedly, the volume of two-way trade is consistently growing, and economic and business ties are strengthening. The Nordic University is successfully operating in our country in cooperation with Finland, and programs in the field of school education are being implemented.

Following today's Uzbek-Finnish Business Forum, a portfolio of joint projects worth over 1 billion euros has been formed.

At the forum, projects were supported to launch certification laboratories to promote Uzbek agricultural and textile products to European Union markets.

The leaders also focused on the ways to expand cooperation in key sectors such as geology and critical materials, energy, agriculture, digitalization, artificial intelligence, ecology, tourism, and other areas and reached agreements on holding the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission in 2026 and establishing a Business Council, and reciprocal interest was expressed in expanding interregional cooperation.

The two counterparts also discussed the ties in the fields of education, medicine, and labor migration, with the first Forum of Rectors and Innovations scheduled for next year.

The Presidents also exchanged views on topical regional and international issues.