Uzbekistan's Ambassador to Egypt, Mansurbek Kilichev, has been appointed as ambassador to Algeria, the Dunyo news agency reports.
The diplomat presented copies of his credentials to Algeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, National Community Abroad and African Affairs, Ahmed Attaf. He is noted to be Uzbekistan's first ambassador to the country.
During a meeting following the brief ceremony, the sides discussed prospects for expanding bilateral cooperation. Attaf highly praised political ties between Algeria and Uzbekistan, emphasizing the importance of deepening trade, economic and other relations.
According to him, the current volume of bilateral trade is far below the existing potential. At the same time, there are significant opportunities in mining and geology, pharmaceuticals and textiles.
The minister also noted that in Algeria, with a population of nearly 50 million, Uzbekistan could set up textile production and export products duty-free to the African continent. To this end, it was proposed to establish trade houses, warehouses and exhibition halls in the country's economic zones, form a business council and launch an intergovernmental commission.
Special attention was paid to expanding cooperation in education, medicine and inter-parliamentary ties.
At the end of the meeting, Attaf said he looks forward to a visit by Uzbekistan's foreign minister to Algeria and expressed readiness to support the ambassador's work.
Kilichev, 47, has worked in diplomacy since 2002. He has served in the ministry's central office and in Uzbekistan's diplomatic missions abroad. In 2012-2013 he was first secretary of the Uzbek embassy in Saudi Arabia, and in 2013-2019 he was consul general in Dubai, UAE. In 2019-2020 he was deputy director of the Information and Analytical Center for International Relations and head of its consolidated analytical department. From 2020 until his ambassadorial appointment, he was deputy director of the Consular and Legal Department of the Foreign Ministry. Since October 2021, he has been Uzbekistan's ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Egypt.
Source: www.gazeta.uz