On September 6, a meeting was held between H. E. Mr. Badriddin N. Abidov, Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, and Dr. Aaron Russell, Country Representative of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in Uzbekistan.

During the meeting, H.E. Mr. Abidov acknowledged GGGI’s support for the State Committee for Ecology and Environmental Protection (SCEEP) in establishing the 5-Year Aral Sea Development Program and developing a financing strategy through Green bonds. The financing strategy is particularly focused on identifying a pipeline of projects that will contribute to green recovery for the Aral Sea region.

The Deputy Minister and Dr. Aaron Russell agreed to further strengthen the partnership between MIFT and GGGI by establishing an effective coordination mechanism to implement the 5-Year Aral Sea Development Program under the framework of the Integrated Roadmap for the sustainable development of the Aral sea region.

In addition, both parties agreed to jointly explore opportunities to attract and mobilize climate finance from the Green Climate Fund for better livelihoods for the people in the Aral Sea region and Uzbekistan as a whole and to cooperate in developing a strong coordination platform among all relevant partners.

The meeting was concluded by reaffirming both parties’ commitments to further enhancing cooperation and outlining concrete next steps, including planning a consultative meeting on the effective Aral Sea Strategy coordination and green bond development mechanisms with key stakeholders.