TASHKENT: Malaysia and Uzbekistan have agreed to explore opportunities for cooperation in the petrochemicals sector and clean green energy solutions, say Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The Uzbek side has expressed a keen interest in collaborating with PETRONAS, particularly through the methanol-to-olefins (MTO) and derivatives project, as well as in the green hydrogen and associated derivates production, including green ammonia, they said in a joint statement.

"Both sides welcomed PETRONAS’ potential contribution to the training of Uzbekistan personnel in the oil and gas sector,” the statement said.

The Uzbek side also noted that Malaysia is one of the largest centres of Islamic finance in the world and expressed its readiness to provide necessary assistance to Malaysian commercial banks in active participation in Uzbekistan's financial market to establish mutual cooperation in the field of Islamic finance.

"Malaysia took note of the interest and is ready to engage with Uzbekistan on the development of the Islamic finance ecosystem in Uzbekistan. The leaders confirmed their determination to enhance and strengthen the framework of bilateral treaty-based cooperation by signing new long-term documents in investment, law enforcement, education, innovation, customs and other areas of mutual interest,” the statement said.

Earlier, Anwar paid a courtesy call to Mirziyoyev and met with the president.

During the one-hour meeting, the two leaders discussed relations between Malaysia and Uzbekistan and explored potential cooperation areas.

Earlier, the special aircraft carrying Anwar, who was flying in from Kazakhstan, landed at the Tashkent International Airport at 2.15pm local time.

Uzbekistan is the last stop of Anwar’s official visit to three Central Asian countries. He had earlier visited the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan.- Bernama