January 8, 2016

Dear AUCC Members and Friends:

 

Happy Holidays and best wishes for 2016!  We are delighted to enter the New Year with a rapidly expanding circle of members, supporters and friends who have helped make our daily work meaningful and our "footprint" more prominent.  Thank you all for your contributions, support and participation in the American-Uzbek Chamber of Commerce (AUCC) events that took place in 2015.  Truly, it was an incredible year for the chamber, and, with your continuous help, we look forward to enjoying another highly productive time.  

 

In reviewing our past events, one can proudly state that the chamber has evolved into the most powerful business group of US corporations, which have a diverse range of commercial interests, but united under the shared agenda of generating economic growth and business opportunities for the peoples of the United States of America and Uzbekistan.  Furthermore, it is the human potential of our two countries and their enormous thirst for knowledge, innovation and industrial growth that energize the AUCC member-companies and their commitment to advancing bilateral trade and investment relations and identifying mutually beneficial projects.  Key among our last year's achievements is the 2015 US-Uzbekistan Annual Business Forum that was held on October 19 in Washington D.C. and co-chaired by Minister Elyor Ganiev and AUSTR Michael Delaney. The forum was an undeniable proof of the progress that AUCC members have made in Uzbekistan since the country's independence in 1991.  It also emphasized the ongoing collaboration on emerging prospects that are of interest to the AUCC business community and attributed the Uzbek market domestic growth to the set of reforms that call for greater privatization and participation of foreign investors and businesses in modernization of the local economy.  

 

In this respect, we would like to express our appreciation to the governments of the US and Uzbekistan for their leadership and drive to increase the bilateral trade turnover through regular dialogue and workshops.  AUCC applauds the US Department of State and the US Department of Commerce for organizing high-level official visits by Secretary of State John Kerry and Assistant Secretary of Commerce Arun Kumar to Uzbekistan.  Our special thanks go to Assistant USTR Michael Delaney for leading the bilateral dialogue on complex trade policy issues and expanding it to other countries in the region that share borders with Uzbekistan.  AUCC welcomes the positive change in geopolitical relations, that lead to a dynamism of the bilateral trade and investment developments, and is honored to have the support of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and namely the Uzbek Embassy in Washington D.C., that work daily with our member-companies on their agenda and priorities for Uzbekistan.  

 

AUCC looks forward to working with the people of our nations on opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.  We are inspired by the positivity of our bilateral relations and stand ready to offer our knowledge, business expertise and ideas for the benefit of the two countries.  We invite new, like-minded, American companies to join our ranks and magnify the voice of the US business community advocating for stronger relations between the US and Uzbekistan!  Happy 2016!

Sincerely,

Carolyn Lamm, AUCC Chairperson

Steven Nadherny, AUCC President