October 13, 2014
X International Uzbek Cotton and Textile Fair.. 2
Modern technologies – efficiency criterion. 2
20th Tashkent International Tourism Fair.. 3
X International Uzbek Cotton and Textile Fair
Modern technologies – efficiency criterion
In recent years our country has radically changed the approach to cultivation and processing of cotton. While creating new varieties scientists-selectors primarily take into account demands of the world market. Currently, country has mainly regionalized fast-ripening varieties, fiber yield of which is up to 40 percent.
Ginning industry is one of the most important sectors of our economy. Currently, steps are being taken to provide enterprises of the industry with modern equipment, to improve effective and efficient use of production capacity, to increase production of products which are competitive on global cotton products market . An important factor in this is Decree of President Islam Karimov “On additional measures to stimulate the modernization, technical and technological re-equipment of production” of 14th March 2007.
Many prestigious companies in the world seek to cooperate in the procurement and processing of uzbek cotton. This requires timely processing based on modern technologies of cotton grown in the country and to further improve the production of high quality fiber. Companies of association “Uzpaxtasanoat” play an important role in improving efficiency of preparation of raw cotton to primary processing, storage and processing.
Measures are being taken to introduce modern technologies in production and efficiency through modernization of ginning companies, in particular, to further improve the quality of manufactured fibers.
Traditional International Uzbek Cotton Fair plays an important role in the promotion of uzbek cotton on world market. For the last period the fair was included in the register key activities of theInternational Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), and determines the policy of cotton market on a global scale. This year the fair will be held for the tenth time. In order to organize it at a high level, familiarize participants with the innovations of industry, there is currently active preparation conducted.
These days, in association “Uzpaxtasanoat” proceeding thorough preparation for the organization of high-level X International Uzbek Cotton Fair, which will take place on October 13-14, as well as reception and storage of high-quality cotton crop in 2014.
(Source: IA «Jahon»)
Landmarks for Export
The number of up-to-date textile industries has been growing in Uzbekistan from one year to another. Many of them turn into serious competitors in the international market, supplying their products to both neighboring countries and Europe, the Middle East and even Latin America.
The structure of the leading domestic exporters of textile products is built of the vertically integrated group of Uztex companies, consisting of four structural units: Uztex Tashkent and Uztex Shovot that specialize in the production of cotton yarn, Uztex Chirchiq, engaged in the production and dyeing of knitted fabrics, and Eurotex, which manufactures garments from cut knitted fabrics.
Creation of a multi-stage production structure is the major trend of the current stage of development of the textile business. The manufacture of goods at various stages of textile production, whether it is yarn, fabric or garment, has its own specifics: the production of high-quality products requires strict compliance with certain process parameters. For example, the production of yarn on the same hardware might worsen the quality of the fabric, and the wrongly assigned length of a roll can considerably increase the cost of tailoring. Therefore, it is sensible to establish several companies combined in one process chain.
Uztex Tashkent ranks among the cutting edge textile enterprises. Its capacity makes up more than 6.5 thousand tons of high quality yarn per year, as manufactured from local raw materials. Its production is actively purchased by textile and clothing companies in Turkey, Russia, China, Iran and other countries. This year, the company has arranged exports to Japan. Uztex Tashkent now ranks among the world’s top mills, whose high quality products meet the Usterized international standard.
“The conditions and opportunities Uzbekistan created for the development of small business and private entrepreneurship are yielding good results,” says Uztex Tashkent Director General Ravshan Yuldashev. “This is obvious by the example of our company, which has produced 3,400 tons of goods in eight months of 2014.”
Meanwhile, the textile industry, especially its export-oriented manufactures, have to constantly evolve and keep pace with its rapidly changing ‘sister’ named fashion. It is vital to realize that the foreign market never has empty niches, so if one does not meet the customer’s demand today, he will be replaced tomorrow. For example, the company’s specialists note a huge demand for quality Uzbek yarn in the CIS, Turkey, South Korea and other countries. Therefore, the company is planning to expand the production of dyed yarn in the Chirchiq factory in the near future. Besides, next year it is intended to establish a spinning manufacture with the capacity of about ten thousand tons of high quality yarn per year in the Khorazm region.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
investments
The Expanding Mobile Market
China’s ZTE Corporation – the world’s telecommunications giant – has been active in the Uzbek market. Cellular phone and modem production capacities, notably, are on the rise. There are long-term plans to launch manufacturing of videophone and expand the mobile phone range.
The Chinese corporation appears as one the key high technology investors in the Uzbek market in addition to the fact that its telecommunications equipment is actively used by domestic mobile operators and the Uzbektelecom Company. A tripartite joint venture specializing on the assembly of digital television sets and on the manufacture of telecommunication equipment – ADSL- and DSLAM-modems was established in September 2011 in Navoi FIEZ jointly with the ZTE Corporation and former Uzbek Agency for Communication and Information on the basis of the Uzbek-Singaporean joint venture Telecom Innovations. Data transmission technologies allow for using a standard landline both as telephone and high-speed Internet. The production capacity is 25 thousand sets of equipment. This successful project has allowed the Chinese partners to assess the prospects of the domestic market and study a favorable investment climate in Uzbekistan.
A modern production line of UzTE smartphones was launched in September 2013 in the Haqiqat village of Sirdaryo Region. The project was founded on a parity basis by ZTE and the Uzbek-Chinese enterprise Pengzhong Xingsheng. This December the companies plan to expand the production of cell phones and start manufacturing four or five new models in the mid-price segment. As a result, the total capacity of the line is expected to reach about 150 million handsets a year, with 40% of new models. Investors are going to invest about $2 million in the production development. Moreover, it is scheduled to open a network of brand phone and accessories shops in November-December.
The establishment of manufacture of videophones is another promising project. The Chinese side is currently negotiating with Uzbektelecom on the establishment of a joint venture for the manufacture of new products. It is planned to locate it in the Jizzakh special industrial zone. The videophones will be based on NGN networks of new generation, as actively developed by Uzbektelecom. The equipment will be primarily focused on the corporate segment.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
20th Tashkent International Tourism Fair
Where the Dreams Lead
In today’s reality tourism is turning from beautiful pictures of vacationers on exotic beaches and attractions into a highly profitable business with a unique opportunity of obtaining the best possible result at the lowest cost.
At the same time, it ranks among the few sectors to withstand the global economic crisis and geopolitical challenges. Uzbekistan is building huge plans for this market. UT reporters tried to analyze the feasibility of the great prospects at the 20th anniversary International Tourism Fair ‘Tourism on the Silk Road’ in Tashkent.
A beautiful fairy tale
The tourism industry is rapidly changing its face. Previously, it was in focus of certain private companies and entrepreneurs, but today it involves governments. It is fairly understandable: tourism has evolved from just a rest into a range of brands, representing the state around the world.
A beautiful fairy tale… That’s the industry’s image in the eyes of common people. Its development engages millions of people around the world. The share of tourism in the gross world product has reached 9%. One new workplace out of every 11 newly created jobs falls to tourism sector. Meanwhile, it is important to realize that tourism, despite all of its advantages, is heavily dependent on the economic situation of the market and the state of safety in certain regions.
There is no need to look far for examples: in Russia, 16 outbound tourism companies have announced their termination in the last two months. Most of them referred the collapse to a loosing season, because the tourism industry is the first to be affected by economic hardships: people cut down expenditures for leisure or refuse from the trips. Therefore, experts say that despite the development of market mechanisms in this field, the government needs to be here to control and support the companies. As international experience shows, the most effective tourism is observed in the where it is supported by specific programs at the state level.
In current conditions, Uzbekistan wields vast resources to expand the tourist flow. The country ranks among the world’s top ten in the tourism scale and in the number of historical and cultural monuments exceeding seven thousand. Samarqand, Bukhoro, Khiva and Shahrisabz are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Year after year the influx of tourists has been growing. Last year, over two million people from more than 70 countries visited Uzbekistan. Over the past two years, this index has increased by 43%, and in the first half of 2014 our country was visited by more than a million tourists from abroad. Exports of travel services in 2013 amounted to over $615 million. Today, the tourism industry employs more than 200 thousand people, and the industry’s contribution to GDP is at 2 percent. The number of active tourism organizations in the country has exceeded 900, including over 400 hotels and 500 travel agencies.
With a right approach to the current situation these indicators might considerably increase in the near future. There are several factors. For instance, safety is the vital criterion for tourists. Thus, many leaders in the tourism business like Egypt, Iraq and Syria have faced a hard challenge. Within just a few years, confrontation in those countries destroyed the image and the industry, which was built up during decades. It will obviously be pretty difficult to revive the shattered confidence of tourists. It is therefore understandable why Uzbekistan pays so much attention to maintaining tolerance and to preserving peace and understanding among nations and peoples.
Last year was a milestone for the domestic tourism industry as the government approved tourism development programs for Khorazm, Surkhondaryo, Tashkent, Qashqadaryo regions, which provided for drawing more than $260 million. Moreover, experts have already elaborated similar programs for other regions that are currently under consideration of the government.
The programs envisage the implementation of projects aimed at the development of tourism infrastructure, including the repair of roads leading to the historical and cultural sites, improvement of engineering infrastructure of tourist centers, construction of hotels, restaurants, parks, bowling clubs and other entertainment facilities. The schemes are provided with a good package of benefits for project initiators.
Certain work has already been accomplished. There are hotels, restaurants and other tourist facilities. New routes are being developed in addition to the existing and popular ones. Next year Tashkent anticipates two big events in the hotel business. Hyatt Regency Hotel for 294 rooms worth $113 million is to open in the first quarter of 2015. In mid-2015, the Hilton international hotel chain intends to take the management over the International Hotel Tashkent, with negotiations on the transfer to the new owner underway. The first phase of reconstruction has been started, which is a prerequisite of Hilton. The hotel’s lobby will stick to the Hilton’s brand style – it will be sheathed with wood.
It is projected to continue with simplification of clearance procedures for incoming tourists. For example, it is scheduled to open visa offices for foreign tourists in Urganch, Samarqand and Bukhoro. According to tour operators, it should not just simplify the procedure of obtaining visas, but also significantly reduce the cost of permits. Thus, foreign tourists can start their tour around Uzbekistan not from Tashkent, but from any of the three cities, and obtain visas right at the airport.
It is equally important to promote the national tourism brand in European countries, one of the major markets for Uzbekistan. This May, Uzbektourism has held talks with representatives of the leading European broadcaster of Euronews and agreed to continue broadcasting videos and documentaries about the tourism capacities and opportunities in Uzbekistan. In cooperation with the TV channel it is planned to launch a new series of City-tour presenting the tourism potential of Tashkent, as well as continue broadcasting on the ‘Uzbek Life’.
Getting around
A tourism week for Uzbekistan has started with the session of the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Samarqand. It was symbolic as the city used to be a Central Asian’s center of trade for many centuries, linking Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Today, the leaders and representatives of authoritative international tourism organizations, specialists of research centers and institutes, experts from Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, who have come to the forum, face another challenge – despite the unstable situation in the world they are to unite synergies of countries, governments and private companies to promote tourism to a new level. Samarqand is the right venue for this mission as it was here where the Samarqand Declaration ‘On the Revival of the Silk Road’ to revitalize the legendary route of rich cultural and tourist exchanges was adopted twenty years ago.
“Uzbekistan has a great potential for further development of the tourism sector, especially taking into account that the country is located along the Great Silk Road. I am convinced that the rich culture and unique historical monuments, the beautiful cities of Samarqand, Bukhoro, Khiva and Tashkent, that are included in the World Heritage List, will always attract tourists from around the world,” UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said.
It is no coincidence that the Great Silk Road was in the spotlight of the session, as it has now grown into a global brand, stimulating the further development of tourism not only in Asia and Uzbekistan, but around the world. For instance, experts noted that owing to the difficult geopolitical situation in certain countries of the world, tourists from European countries and the United States give more preference to Asian countries, previously unknown to them. No wonder, Uzbekistan was the key initiator of the revival of the Silk Road. The tourism brand is getting popular and attracting more and more countries of the region. Twenty years ago, the Samarqand Declaration on the development of tourism on this historic route was signed by 19 countries. Today, the common goal of turning the Silk Road into one of the world’s leading tourist destinations unites 31 countries.
Traveling with comfort
The twentieth anniversary Tashkent International Tourism Fair ‘Tourism on the Silk Road’ (TITF) has become, as it is well established tradition, the central event of the national tourism week. The three-day fair was located in three pavilions with total area of 10,000 square meters, presenting all regions of Uzbekistan, biggest local and foreign travel agencies, hotels and recreation areas. This year’s fair was attended by more than 300 exhibiting companies, and the total number of participants exceeded 120 thousand people from more than 40 countries. The objectives of the forum were primarily practical: it was aimed at promoting the development of tourism sector, expansion of international contacts, introduction of new kinds of tourism, advancement of the level of service. Every effort is to make a visit as comfortable as possible.
TITF is not just a business program, but also a variety of different projects. A large-scale exposition of mega-painting ‘A Thousand Angels and One Picture’, which linked tourism and art by one thread, was one of the brightest strokes. It is no coincidence that the title ‘Silk Links of Tourism and Arts’ was chosen the slogan of the anniversary exhibition and the following year.
The large-scale painting by Lekim Ibragimov is known throughout the world. ‘A Thousand Angels and A Picture’ is amazing not only by its artistic value, but also by impressive size: its height is eight meters, and length – 66 meters with the total area of 528 square meters. The canvas consists of 1,000 separate paintings, each of which depicts an angel. The idea of painting was born in Lekim Ibragimov more than a decade ago, and the process of creating took three years. The epic picture was presented at international exhibitions and caused delight in the most exacting art amateurs. “The picture symbolizes the epic of the Great Silk Road. The murals of Afrosiyob and the miniature art of Samarqand were the strongest motivation for me to draw it,” the artist Lekim Ibragimov said.
The organization of the first wine festival and exhibition ‘Sunny Grapes’ under the International Fair, is yet another interesting project. The Wine Festival will allow for visualizing the potential of Uzbekistan’s wine industry, as well as promoting the development of wine tourism, one of the most promising areas in the country in terms of economy. As the organizers shared their views with UT, they plan to increase the interest of domestic wineries and tourism companies in establishing close cooperation. It is also scheduled to create an infrastructure of wine tourism: wineries, museums, tasting rooms, specialized restaurants and souvenir shops, meeting the world needs and desires of foreign travel companies, and work out a variety of wine tours that can be successfully implemented and synthesized in the gastronomic and historical tours.
TITF-2014 presented a totally new project for Uzbekistan, which is a specialized program of business meetings ‘Hosted Buyers’, which will bring the event to a new level of ‘business to business’ format. Hosted buyer is a special, privileged buyer who is invited to the exhibition in advance with a specific purpose – to meet with a willing seller and negotiate on the sale or purchase of products, goods or services or on the implementation of a special joint program or project. The main objective of the new project is to create a favorable environment for tourism experts by organizing pre-planned meetings between exhibitors and potential partners and buyers of tourism products.
The exposition has proved the views of many experts about growing flow of foreign tourists to Uzbekistan, and increasing well-being of the population, which allows Uzbeks to increasingly travel domestically and abroad. This is directly evidenced by the annual expansion of geography of participants. For instance, Singapore, the Dominican Republic and Russia have debuted this year. Besides, the Fair presented regions unknown to foreign tourists, but which are actively promoted in the background of Samarqand, Bukhoro and Khiva, which need no introduction. The event also presented new programs on active, gastronomic, health improving, pilgrimage, and other types of tourism. For example, the National Pavilion of exclusive stands presented the representatives of tourism industry of all regions of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Karakalpakstan, as well as 195 regional hotels, 102 travel companies, a large number of museums and educational centers.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
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