June 5, 2015
Industry as the foundation of the state’s economic power 2
Uzbek leader signs law “On securities market” in new edition. 4
Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan receives US Assistant Secretary of Commerce. 4
Intergovernmental Commission Meeting. 5
Korean Furrow Plows Uzbek Lands. 5
Textile Industry: Results of Cooperation. 6
Д.Хакимов
А.Каипбергенов
О.Алимов
economy
Industry as the foundation of the state’s economic power
The vital priorities of the current year and years to come are as follows: to implement the policy of structural reforms, to boost the investment process and the inflow to the country of overseas investments, and to speed up technical and technological modernization and diversification of national manufacturing. Tasks such as the realization of the Localization and Imports-Substitution Program, improvement of the quality and competitiveness of indigenous output, creation of more jobs etc. are also included into the list of priorities. Altogether, these objectives are aimed at solidifying the economic power of the Republic of Uzbekistan, raising the population’s living standard and ensuring the country’s quicker integration with the club of the world’s highly developed nations.
The leading role in putting all the plans into practice is played by industry, which provides other sectors of material production with up-to-date equipment and implements, attracts a highly-skilled portion of manpower and, last but not least, constitutes a material basis for the invention of modern innovations and know-how. What’s more, industry is exerting marked influence on the distribution and exploitation of available productive forces, facilitating the efficient use of local resources in the national economy and entrenching the Republic’s defense capability. In addition, manufacturing affects, directly and entirely, both the level and pace of economic growth. That’s why, probably, it is viewed as the foundation for reproduction, thanks to which any nation, including Uzbekistan, may win a leading position, in terms of technical progress and economic growth.
In the years after the acquisition of independence, the national industry has undergone a powerful quantitative and qualitative transformation, mostly owing to the country’s own economic model, known in the world community as “the Uzbek model”. Since 1991, many new production sectors have been created in the Republic from scratch. The number of joint ventures, including enterprises with 100 per cent foreign capital, has skyrocketed. Automobile construction occupies a special place among the newly-created industries of the national economy. Uzbekistan was dreaming of assembling motor cars on its territory since it was part of the former USSR. Today, the enterprises operating in the sector turn out 27 different models of cargo motor vehicles and automobiles. Let it be mentioned at this point that a portion of its output is exported. The indigenous mechanical-engineering industry produces as many as 15 types of modern agricultural machinery. During the decades of independent development the majority of enterprises have been subject to reconstruction. They have entirely reviewed their profile and specialization in accordance with the market situation and consumer demand. Their production and economic activity is focusing on up-to-date machinery and technology. New economic relationships and partner ties have been forged between domestic enterprises.
For the time being, the Republic of Uzbekistan is known internationally as a state that is following the path of technical progress, running a stable economy and enjoying an enormous industrial potential and a stupendous resource base. All these factors make future spectacular accomplishments feasible. In the last decade, the country’s GDP, a benchmark of the state of any economy, has never fallen below 8 per cent a year, and even exceeded that figure in some years. In 2014, for instance, the Uzbek economy grew by 8.1 per cent, with the volume of industrial output increasing by 8.3 per cent. The indicated orientation toward state-of-the-art innovations has enabled domestic manufacturers to replace many imported goods by home-made ones. The total volume of substituted imports has exceeded an estimated s amount of US $4 billion. This can be interpreted not only as a serious industrial-production achievement of the Republic, but also as evidence of its victory over the former predominance of cotton production.
Of course, this was not attained immediately. Among the main factors contributing to a given success was, above all, the far-sighted and purpose-oriented economic policy implemented by the Uzbek leaders. The national model of economic development, which is based on the famous five principles, has turned out a highly viable tool, proving its value in practice across all spheres of life.
“The major factor behind all our successes, – pointed out President Karimov during the inauguration ceremony at the joint sitting of both Chambers of the Oliy Majlis, – is the evolutional and step-by-step path of development we have chosen since independence, which takes into consideration all natural, historical, national, demographic and ecological characteristics peculiar to Uzbekistan.” The large-scale reforms carried out in the national economy have also proved rather efficient, stimulating a spectacular spurt in its development and enabling the Republic to solidify its production potentialities. As a result, the Uzbek economy has become appreciably innovative and competitive.
In this connection it is worth mentioning the State Program “On priority of industrial development in the Republic of Uzbekistan in the period 2015-2019” as a document, which has played a special role in all these reforms. Encompassing more than 500 investment projects and estimated at some US $50 billion, the Program envisages the outstripping development of basic industries such as power engineering, oil-and-gas, chemistry, light and textile sector, machine building, metal-working, automobile construction, production of building materials etc.
One of the development priorities emphasized in the Program was an increase in the share of processing industries – from 41 per cent in 2010 to 49 per cent in 2015, as well as a rise in the overall share of manufacturing itself in the structure of national GDP. Particular importance was also attached to the production of more goods with high value added, on the basis of deeper processing of local raw materials and natural resources. All these processes were substantially accelerated by the efficient investment policy in all sectors of the national economy. Official figures show that in 2014, over 73 per cent of all investments was channeled to industrial construction. As a consequence, 154 big production facilities were put into operation, including a third line of the Central Asian gas main, whose total length is 1,830 kilometers.
The development of manufacturing and the economy as a whole has been greatly incentivized by the Presidential Decree, “On the Program of measures to carry out structural reforms, modernization and diversification of production in the period 2015-2019” as of March 4th, 2015. This document provides for the realization of 846 investment projects to the tune of US $40 billion. Designed to upgrade production facilities through the introduction of technical and technological innovations, the measures stipulated in the Decree are a logical continuation of the modernization policy, which the Republic of Uzbekistan has been pursuing since the proclamation of independence.
The Decree’s main focus is on modernization of existing energy-generation capacities and creation of new ones in power engineering, a sector that affects not only all other industries of the national economy, but also the population’s everyday life. The measures count on the broad introduction of resource-saving steam-gas plants and tested solar-energy technologies.
Large-scale reforms are penciled in to start in machine-building, automobile construction and electro-technical industries. There are ongoing efforts to set up new enterprises and expand existing ones in these sectors, which are expected to join hands with technological leaders, with a view to producing import-substituting agricultural equipment, cargo motor vehicles and a variety of parts and components. 77 projects will be realized there, including those to be funded by foreign investments, mainly direct ones.
The other prioritized industries include oil-and-gas and petro-chemistry, where a lot of measures are afoot to augment production volumes and to expand a range of goods with high value added, on the basis of deeper processing of natural gas and gas condensate. In the chemical sector, for example, both production and exports will be diversified by introducing modern technologies into the production of complex mineral fertilizers, polymers, synthetic rubber, methanol and a wide spectrum of household cleaning goods. 124 investment projects, including 48 ones that stipulate the attraction of overseas investments, will be implemented in the industries referred to above, as well as in geology, fuel-and-power and metallurgical complexes.
The Program in question also envisages the realization of some 300 projects, designed to withdraw obsolete equipment and facilities, which no longer meet today’s technological and other requirements. As for food and pharmaceutical enterprises, they will also develop on a new technical, technological and organizational basis. All these measures are expected to guarantee an 8 per cent average annual rise in GDP between 2015 and 2019, and a 9 per cent increase in production volumes of industrial output. As a result, the national economy and its production foundation – manufacturing – will make a big step towards the country’s wellbeing and prosperity.
(Source: «Business partner.uz» newspaper)
BUSINESS CLIMATE
Uzbek leader signs law “On securities market” in new edition
President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a law “On securities market” in new edition on 3 June 2015.
Legislative Chamber passed the law on 24 October 2014 and Senate approved it on 15 May 2015. It came into force from 4 June 2015.
The law consists of 9 chapters and 64 articles. The law is directed at simplifying and improving efficiency of legal procedures, related to emission of securities, including new financial tools.
The document envisages preferences at recording deals with securities and organizational-legal mechanisms of wide introduction of modern electronic technologies.
The law sets requirements to professional activities at the securities market, rights and liabilities of the participants of the market, as well as conditions and mechanisms for violation of the legislation in this sphere.
The document also sets requirements for information disclosure by the participant of the securities market of Uzbekistan.
(Source: UzDaily.com)
International cooperation
Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan receives US Assistant Secretary of Commerce
On June 4, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov received Arun Madhavan Kumar, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for global markets.
An exchange of views on major issues of the Uzbek-American agenda, especially on the prospects of development of cooperation in trade, economic and investment spheres was held.
Assistant of Minister of Commerce of the United States shared his impressions of the meetings and talks in the Government, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade, Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, as well as informed about the preparation of the Tashkent “round table” with representatives of American business circles, who arrived in our country to establish business contacts.
The parties also reviewed proposals for the next bilateral activities.
The meeting was also attended by US Ambassador Pamela Leora Spratlin.
(Source: UzReport.uz)
Intergovernmental Commission Meeting
The capital Tashkent’s International Business Center has played host to the regular Uzbek-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission for Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation.
The occasion was attended by heads of ministries and other government agencies, companies and corporations of the two countries responsible for such spheres as foreign economic relations, commerce, investments, banking and finance, oil and gas, chemical and food industries, agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing of construction materials, textiles, science and technologies, transport and transport communications, customs, tourism, electrotechnical sector and other areas.
Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Cochairman of the commission Elyor Ganiev stressed in particular that the cooperation between Uzbekistan and Iran has been advancing consistently along many dimensions, including the trade-economic and scientific-technological realms.
An agreement and normative base is established for the further development of mutual trade-economic interaction between our two countries. Deals are functioning on trade-economic cooperation, reciprocal encouragement and protection of investments, avoidance of double taxation, mutual commerce preferences, partnership in the sphere of railway transportation.
Both countries wield a tremendous potential in the development of trade-economic ties. In 2014, the volumes of trade turnover reached 374.9 million U.S. dollars, while in the first quarter of this year it exceeded 140.9 million dollars. Around 120 joint ventures operate in Uzbekistan that were set up with the participation of Iranian capital, and 8 leading companies of that country have opened their representative offices in our country.
A promising direction of the bilateral cooperation is the transport and communication sector. A bright example of that is the Treaty on the Establishment of Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman Railway Corridor, signed in 2011. It was noted at the session that the project is designed to facilitate further expansion of mutually advantageous trade-economic bonds among the countries of Central Asia, Middle and Near East.
“Iran attaches a great significance to the development of cooperation with Uzbekistan,” said the Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade of Iran – Cochairman of the commission Muhammedrezo Nematzadeh. “Such meetings serve for the further enhancement of the scales of partnership. By making an effective use of the available opportunities, we intend to advance our relations with Uzbekistan even more energetically in economy, manufacturing industry, technical and technological sector, agriculture, transport and transport communications, freight shipping, pharmaceuticals.”
A particular emphasis during the negotiations was placed on the elaboration and implementation of joint projects.
Later the day, business circles of Uzbekistan and Iran got together at a forum. They exchanged views on the economic capacities and potential of the two nations.
(Source:UzA )
Korean Furrow Plows Uzbek Lands
Tashkent Plant of Agricultural Machinery has established the manufacture of TTZ-100HC brand tractors together with the South Korean company LS-Mtron.
O’zqishloqhujalikmashlizing Company, a leader in the field, renders maintenance services to more than 36,000 farms, machine and tractor stations, alternative machine and tractor stations, and businesses. In 2001-2014, the company supplied them with 57,400 items of equipment valued at nearly 1.4 trillion soums. 990 units of equipment totaling almost 40 billion soums have been leased in the first quarter of 2015.
“Benefits for leasing equipment to farmers are important in terms of providing them with all means they need. Reducing the cost of leasing in 2001-2015 from 12 to 4.5% per annum created great opportunities for the owners. As a result of measures on stimulation of farms the farmers have turned into true land owners with modern equipment and technologies. It is expected that advanced Uzbek-Korean tractors will catalyze this process,” said O’zqishloqhujalikmashlizing executive Elmurod Kurbanov.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
Exhibiton
Textile Industry: Results of Cooperation
International exhibition Textile industry – Textile Expo Uzbekistan – 2015 opened in the pavilions of Uzexpocenter on May 27.
The event was organized with assistance of the Ministry of foreign economic relations, investments and trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, state joint-stock company Uzbekyengilsanoat, chamber of Commerce, the Association of fashion designers of Uzbekistan Osiyo Ramzi by international exhibition company ITE Uzbekistan and ITE group.
Chairman of the board of the state joint-stock company Uzbekyengilsanoat I.Khaydarov and other speakers at the event noted that the work implemented in our country under the leadership of President Islam Karimov on involving new facilities, equipped with the most modern equipment, as well as on technical and technological renovation, modernization of existing enterprises, further improve the legal framework facilitates the consistent development of the industry and enhancing its export potential.
The decree of the head of our state on additional measures on further improving investment climate and business environment in the Republic of Uzbekistan from 7 April 2014, as well as a Program of structural transformation, modernization and diversification of production in 2015-2019 years are an important factor in the improvement of this work. According to the programme in the textile industry 77 projects totaling more than 900 million US dollars provided for the implementation. Its implementation will serve to further increase the light industry’s export potential of our country.
Today, manufacturing enterprises of textile and light industry in Uzbekistan are included in the complex of diversified large industrial enterprises equipped at a high level. Industrial enterprises in the state joint-stock company Uzbekyengilsanoat produce high quality products in a wide range of products – yarn, fabric, sewing, sewing and knitting products as well as working clothes. Such products are sold not only in domestic market but also in Europe, America, Asia and Africa.
The traditional international exhibition Textile industry – Textile Expo Uzbekistan by demonstrating the capabilities and achievements of textile and light industry of our country, strengthening international cooperation to further improve the industry and attracting foreign investment creates good opportunities for the implementation of promising projects.
At this forum, more than seventy companies from such countries like Uzbekistan, China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Belarus, Poland, Turkey, Latvia, Lithuania participate with their products and services. The exhibition brought together in one place the leading producers and consumers of the sphere and serves as an important factor in the development of cooperation among experts of the world textile industry, and helps to broaden their understanding of light industry, exchange experience and information.
Textile products of Uzbekistan, which is in great demand in the world market, are distinct with its high quality and competitiveness, compliance with international standards. Actively participating in the international exhibition, enterprises of our country demonstrate its potential, at the same time offer a wide selection of fabrics, yarn, knitted fabric, adult and children’s clothing, denim, sewing and knitting products. Promising companies like Alkim Textile, Uztex, Azalea Garment, Cotton Fashion, Feteks Textile Chemicals, Nortex Style, Osborn Textile, Sedat Triko Tashkent, Urganch Bahmal participating in the exhibition.
Belarusian companies participating in the exhibition offer woolen, technical and cotton fabrics, clothing, chemical fibre, polyester and technical yarns.
The international exhibition demonstrates the great strides made in the textile industry of our country and the world. This contributes to the further development of light industry and international cooperation in this direction as well as the study of supply and demand, to attract foreign investments, the development and implementation of promising joint projects with foreign partners and increasing export potential.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan U.Rozuqulov made a speech in the opening of the exhibition.
(Source: «Business partner.uz» newspaper)
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(currency rates of CB RU from 05.06.2015 1$= 2858.29 soums )
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