First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Sergei Ivanov believes that Russia and Uzbekistan should step up cooperation between the two countries in order to make it more dynamic and efficient, he was quoted as saying opening Russia's national exhibition in Tashkent. Ivanov stated that although Russia and Uzbekistan were engaged in an active multilevel political dialog and implementing large joint energy, innovation, space and education projects, , in his opinion, this was not enough. He added that the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation and the economic forum he was taking part in would foster the achievement of full potential of the Russian-Uzbek relations.
In turn, Uzbekistan's Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyev said that trade between the two countries expanded 3.5 times to $3bn over the past 5 years, and was expected to top $4bn in 2007. Uzbekistan views Russia as an important trade partner and looks to expand trade in the coming years.