During the visit of the delegation of Uzbekistan to the USA, the Minister of Natural Resources Aziz Abduhakimov met with the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, the Director of the European and CIS Bureau of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) I. Zivkovich and the Director of Nature, Climate and Energy of the UNDP P. Kurukulasuriya. 

At the meeting, the parties focused on bilateral cooperation in the field of environmental protection, rational use of natural resources and restoration of ecosystems within the framework of joint programs and initiatives. 

At the same time, the UN side emphasized the wide-scale work being carried out to improve the environmental situation in Aral Bay. In particular, he highly appreciated the Special Resolution of the UN General Assembly, which was adopted at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and aimed at turning the Aral Bay region into a zone of ecological innovations and technologies. 

At the end of the meeting, an agreement was reached on the expansion of the portfolio of joint projects implemented at the expense of grants from the Global Environmental Fund (GEF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which currently includes 7 grant projects with a total value of 20 million dollars.  

At the same time,  they were invited to the three major UN events to be held in Samarkand - the Global Action on Desertification (UNCCD CRIC-21), the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP-14) and the 25th session of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization ( UNWTO).