In a ceremony at the State Department March 12, the United States and Uzbekistan signed five separate agreements "as part of their mutual effort to develop a deeper, long-term relationship": a broad-based Declaration on the Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Framework; a land-acquisition agreement for the construction of a new U.S. embassy in Tashkent; a science and technology cooperation agreement; a nuclear nonproliferation agreement; and a $55 million medium-term credit guarantee facility to support the purchase of U.S. goods and services by small- and medium-sized Uzbek enterprises.

Following is the text of a fact sheet on the agreements:

U.S. Department Of State
Office of the Spokesman
March 12, 2002

Fact Sheet: United States-Uzbekistan Signing Ceremony

In a signing ceremony today, the United States and Uzbekistan signed five separate agreements as part of their mutual effort to develop a deeper, long-term relationship between the two countries.

• U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov signed a broad-based Declaration on the Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Framework between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the United States of America covering political, security, economic, humanitarian and legal cooperation.

• Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov signed an agreement for the acquisition of land in Tashkent for the construction of a new U.S. Embassy.

• Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov signed an agreement that will expand the Framework for Strategic Partnership in the area of science and technology cooperation.

• Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov signed an implementing agreement to facilitate cooperation on nuclear nonproliferation between the two countries.

• Export-Import Bank Vice Chairman Eduardo Aguirre, Jr. and National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity Chairman Zainutdin Mirkhodjaev signed a $55 million medium-term credit guarantee facility to support the purchase of U.S. goods and services by small and medium-sized Uzbek enterprises.

end fact sheet

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)