The President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took part in the opening of the second meeting of the American-Uzbekistan Business and Investment Council Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the U.S. president’s special envoy Sergio Gor, and representatives of leading American companies and banks also attended.

In his remarks, the president said it was symbolic that new opportunities for cooperation between Uzbekistan and the United States were being discussed in Samarkand, a city that has brought together peoples, cultures and trade routes for centuries.

He said relations between the two countries have reached a qualitatively new stage, largely thanks to the personal attention and support of U.S. President Donald Trump. He stressed the need to expand economic ties further on the basis of a solid political partnership, and said the council plays a distinct role in advancing joint projects and initiatives.

Mirziyoyev outlined the wide-ranging reforms under way in Uzbekistan: the economy is growing, new enterprises are opening, jobs are being created and educational opportunities for young people are expanding. He said efforts to attract investment for industrial development and modern infrastructure should go hand in hand with deploying advanced technologies and exchanging knowledge and expertise.

He noted that considerable experience has been accumulated in working with American business. Hundreds of companies with American investment now operate in Uzbekistan, with cooperation established in industry, energy, transport, agriculture, education and new technologies. Uzbekistan’s companies, meanwhile, are beginning to invest in the U.S. economy.

He named several promising areas for expanding cooperation: developing critical minerals and processing them deeply to make high-tech products; building a modern, sustainable energy system; setting up data centers; deploying artificial intelligence and digital solutions in industry, agriculture, education and public administration; and education and workforce training.

The president said extensive preparations went into the council’s meeting. They produced a package of 54 agreements and promising initiatives worth nearly $12 billion, and a comprehensive action program will be drawn up to implement them.

To improve the council’s work further, he said, efforts should focus on three priorities. First, U.S. businesses need clear and predictable conditions. An investor arriving in Uzbekistan should be able to start a business quickly, without losing time to administrative procedures. He said the country is moving to a new approach based on a “Plug and Play” principle, under which investors are offered ready-made projects with land, infrastructure, permits and paperwork already settled.

Local businesses may also take part as partners and shoulder some of the investment risk, he said. The newly established Direct Investment Fund will also join such projects.

The next priority, he said, is to jointly build new sectors of the economy and large hubs that support the rapid development of industry and technology.

He said the council should become a strategic mechanism for long-term economic partnership between the two countries, and proposed drawing up a trade, investment and technology cooperation program through 2035. The council should also become a dialogue platform for developing new initiatives, removing systemic barriers and advancing large joint projects, he said.