Strengthening energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan will be beneficial for both countries, Uzbek expert and economist Ulugbek Kamaletdinov told Report.
According to him, the issues of adequate provision of industries with energy resources are a priority for governments.
"Now the government has two ways to mitigate the situation: the first is to expand investments in domestic electricity generation, the second is to diversify import supplies of energy resources, especially oil, liquid furnace materials and electricity," he said.
According to the researcher, for Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan is and will remain the largest and key market in Central Asia, and can also become a major consumer of its energy exports.
"In addition, our country has the most convenient transit opportunities for the export of Azerbaijani goods and raw materials to Afghanistan, and further to the countries of South Asia. In light of the restoration of the liberated territories of Karabakh and the launch of large international energy projects here, Uzbekistan can also play a key role in expanding and diversification of the export of Azerbaijani energy resources in the eastern direction," he added.
The expert also touched upon the issue of creating an Azerbaijani-Uzbek investment company: "I am sure that this company will become an important stage for the implementation of joint projects in the energy sector."
According to Kamaletdinov, the joint company will be in demand in the implementation of "green" projects, especially those aimed at developing solar and wind energy, deep processing of oil and gas production waste both in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
"I think that this company can become effective in the implementation of investment projects in the textile and footwear industries, construction and transport. Here, first of all, we should talk about the transfer of technology, science, knowledge and skills, that is, the main component of any investment ecosystem, development of human capital in both countries," he concluded.