Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Finance Minister of Bangladesh held a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev yesterday day in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. He was accompanied by the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Uzbekistan Mohammad Monirul Islam to the meeting. Mr. Chowdhury is currently leading a Bangladesh delegation to the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), being taken place in Samarkand on 3-6 May 2026. Finance Minister Chowdhury conveyed sincere thanks and appreciation to the Government of Uzbekistan, especially the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev for congratulating the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tarique Rahman on his assumption to the post of Prime Minister, following the formation of the new Government. Highlighting the historical, cultural and religious linkages shared by the people of Bangladesh and Uzbekistan, he underlined the importance of working more closely in comprehensively harnessing prospects and potentials that these two brotherly countries offer in their bilateral landscape, especially in the spheres of trade, connectivity, employment, culture, tourism and people to people contact. He particularly urged the Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister to positively consider establishing a direct air connectivity between the two countries, including resuming Uzbek airways in Dhaka-Tashkent sector. He laid particular emphasis on opening an Uzbek diplomatic Mission in Bangladesh for further cementing and deepening overall bilateral collaboration. He also requested for a greater market access of Bangladeshi export items like RMG, Pharmaceuticals and jute products to Uzbek market and sought the Deputy Prime Minister’s support in facilitating Uzbek visas for Bangladeshi business and tourism communities in particular. Underlining the necessity of exchange of high level political visits, he extended an invitation to the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to pay a visit to Bangladesh at a mutually convenient time. The Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev expressed the readiness of his Government to engage with Bangladesh more effectively to make the economic partnership dynamic and result oriented. He stressed the need for early conclusion of the bilateral instruments that have remained pending, more emphatically in areas of trade, agriculture and tourism. Appreciating Bangladesh’s advancements in textile and pharmaceutical sectors, he assured the Bangladesh Minister of sending a business delegation to explore business and investment opportunities at the earliest. The meeting ended with reaffirming the commitment towards taking the Bangladesh-Uzbekistan bilateral cooperation to its next level in the time to come.