Türkiye and Uzbekistan have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in the mining sector, with a particular focus on critical minerals and rare earth elements, officials said on Thursday.
The document was signed by Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar and Uzbekistan’s Minister of Mining Industry and Geology Bobir Islamov. The signing took place following high-level talks in Ankara between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
According to Bayraktar, the agreement is intended to promote information exchange, research and development, and the implementation of concrete joint projects in the mining sector. He said the memorandum would help advance cooperation in strategically important minerals and support broader economic ties between the two countries.
Writing on Türkiye’s NSosyal platform, Bayraktar described the agreement as an important step toward achieving the bilateral trade volume targets set by the two presidents, expressing confidence that it would deliver mutual benefits.
The signing coincided with the Fourth Meeting of the Türkiye–Uzbekistan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, chaired by Erdogan and Mirziyoyev at the presidential complex in Ankara. Beyond mining, the two countries concluded a series of additional agreements and memoranda covering cooperation in health, education, culture, transport corridors, energy, higher education, free and special economic zones, as well as economic and financial affairs.
