The visit of the representative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ), Dr. Carolina Probst, responsible for Uzbekistan and Central Asia, to Uzbekistan was organized from 23 to 28 September 2024.

The purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with the BMZ financed projects in Uzbekistan, including the regional project Ecologically Oriented Development in the Aral Sea Region (ECO ARAL).

Dr. Probst, together with the BMZ Head of Cooperation in the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Tashkent, Dr. Michael Wimmer, and the GIZ Country Director for Uzbekistan, Mr. Joachim Fritz, visited the Republic of Karakalpakstan as well, where ECO ARAL project activities are being implemented.

In the Republic of Karakalpakstan, meeting of the delegation representatives with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan Farhod Urazbaevich Ermanov took place. During the meeting, F. Ermanov highly appreciated the consistent development of multifaceted relations with the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the current state of cooperation and outlined the tasks for further development of interaction.

The delegation’s visit continued with a visit to pilot sites for growing licorice root on the territory of the International Innovation Center (IICAS) and for growing rice using a solar powered drip irrigation system, on the territory of the Rice Research Institute, as well as a Laboratory for the use of geoinformation (GIS) at the Karakalpak Institute of Agriculture and Agrotechnology supported by the ECO ARAL project.

In the pilot areas, the ECO ARAL project manager Paul Schumacher and the project coordinators presented the current results and proposed concrete steps for further development of these initiatives. Particular attention was paid to the economic benefits for the region that can be obtained as a result of the successful implementation of this project.