As reported earlier, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov left with an official visit for Brazil on 26 May. On his way to Brazil, Uzbek leader made a stopover in the Spanish capital, Madrid.

Islam Karimov and Juan Carlos highly evaluated the present state of bilateral relations, but noted that the economic cooperation did not correspond to the potential of the two states.

The sides agreed to boost relations in this direction and strengthen the legal basis of mutually beneficial cooperation.

Uzbekistan pays a great importance to cooperation with Spain. In 2006, the government passed a resolution on expanding cooperation with the Kingdom of Spain, and in February 2009 it approved the programme of measures to of development of cooperation with it.

Spain also highly values its relations with Uzbekistan. During the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan to Spain in January 2003, then mayor of Madrid Jose María Álvarez del Manzano presented Islam Karimov with the symbolical key of the city. That signified that Madrid was always open for Tashkent.

The relations between Uzbekistan and Spain have deep historical roots. Six centuries ago the state of Amir Temur was visited by the Spanish ambassador Rui Gonsalez de Klavijo. And Amir Temur appointed Muhammad al Qozi as his ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain. This shows that the two peoples already had cultural, political and economic relations at that time.

Spain is an economically developed country with a high image on the international arena. Uzbekistan is interested in expansion of cooperation with the European Union through this country. In its turn, Spain is interested in development of relations with Uzbekistan, which is a leading country in Central Asia. The foreign ministries of the two countries holds regular consultations, and the contacts between the parliaments and the ombudsmen are also developing.

In the economic sphere, Uzbekistan and Spain enjoy the most favored nation treatment. A number of joint ventures operate in Uzbekistan, including TechComInvest (trade), Maxam Central Asia and Maxam Uzbekistan (chemical industry), Balkan Export Import Asia (construction materials) and others. Representative offices of large Spanish companies Preparado Alimenticios (food industry) and Atlas Consorcio (alternative energy technologies) are accredited in the country.

Spain is one of the reliable investment partners of Uzbekistan.

Humanitarian cooperation has also been developing steadily between the two states. In 2000, the Spanish-Uzbek friendship association Clavijo-Amir Temur was set up. It participated in organization of the celebrations of the 600th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the state of Amir Temur and the Kingdom of Spain in 2004. In Barcelona, the famous book of Zahiriddin Muhammad Babur “Baburname” was published in Spanish language.

Close relations have been established between the higher educational institutions of the two countries. The institutes of the Science Academy of Uzbekistan hold joint research with large scientific establishments of Spain.