June 1, 2015
STATE VISIT OF THE PRESIDENT OF UZBEKISTAN ISLAM KARIMOV TO THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA.. 2
Most Crucial in Relations Is the Earnest Mutual Trust 2
International cooperation: Investment.. 4
STATE VISIT OF THE PRESIDENT OF UZBEKISTAN ISLAM KARIMOV TO THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Most Crucial in Relations Is the Earnest Mutual Trust
As it was reported earlier, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov paid a state visit 27-29 May to the Republic of Korea on the invitation of President Park Geun-hye.
The principal official events of the visit took place on May 28. Initially in the contracted format, followed by the talks in an extended setup, the heads of two states held negotiations in an open, confidence-based and constructive atmosphere and discussed the entire complex of issues of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
The South Korean side expressed great gratitude to Islam Karimov for paying his first state visit to that country after the presidential elections in our nation. That underlines the scale and prospects of enhancement of multilayered cooperation between our two countries as well as the tremendous significance attached by Uzbekistan to the further consolidation of multifaceted relations of strategic partnership.
The two sides stated that the visit became a logical and legitimate extension of the regular contacts at the highest level and demonstrated the shared political will to afford even greater dynamism to the practical interaction across all the directions of cooperation, which meets the interests of our two countries and peoples.
It was noted by the heads of state that the most crucial component valued by the two sides in their mutual relations is the sincere reciprocal trust.
The prolific and constructive negotiations confirmed the proximity of positions and approaches to all the aspects of bilateral cooperation as well as the discussed issues of regional and international politics.
The Republic of Uzbekistan supported the peace-loving, well-thought-out and well-balanced foreign policy of the Republic of Korea directed at preserving the peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region in general.
Uzbekistan welcomes the considered and pragmatic Initiative on Peaceful Unification put forward by the President of the Republic of Korea last year in Germany’s Dresden, the scheme designed to normalize the inter-Korean relations and secure a nonnuclear status of the Korean Peninsula.
The two leaders declared that issues concerning the use of water resources of Central Asia are to be resolved by means of consultations in accordance with the universal norms of international law, with an eye to the interests of all the nations of the region.
The leadership of the Republic of Korea extended gratefulness to the Republic of Uzbekistan for support in the evolution of the cooperation forum “Republic of Korea – Central Asia” and the establishment of its permanent secretariat.
The sides conveyed their high appreciation of the bilateral inter-parliamentary relations of cooperation, including through the functioning associations and friendship groups in the legislatures.
A remarkable event was the Joint Declaration on the Enhancement and Expansion of Strategic Partnership signed in 2014 and which identifies prospective spheres of long-term interaction between our two nations.
The key constituent of the bilateral relations is the cooperation in trade and economic, investment and financial sectors.
The South Korean side gave a high appraisal of the achievements made in Uzbekistan, including the macroeconomic stability, the created favorable investment climate, the reforms and structural transformation in education, infrastructure development, modernization of manufacturing industry, promotion of contemporary agricultural sector. The economic growth rates that have been exceeding 8 percent over the last 10 years deserve admiration, especially in light of the intricate situation in the global economy.
The parties to negotiations underscored the sustainable dynamics in the trade turnover, whose indicators have been surpassing 2 billion U.S. dollars in recent years.
Following the talks, the Presidents inked a joint declaration that defines the prospects of cooperation in all spheres of shared interest.
In general, an unprecedented package of documents – 60 agreements and treaties, including 55 in trade-economic, investment and financial-technical cooperation – have been signed within the frameworks of the visit and the Uzbek-Korean business forum that took place on the eve of it.
During the visit, the two sides discussed cultural-humanitarian cooperation and agreed to construct and arrange the activities of the House of South Korea Culture and Arts in the city of Tashkent, which is to become a new symbol of Uzbek-South Korean friendship and the embodiment of the aspiration of our two countries to cement confidence and mutual understanding between the two peoples.
Park Geun-hye extended gratefulness on behalf of all the people of South Korea for the attention and care demonstrated toward the Korean Diaspora in Uzbekistan.
As part of the visit, President Islam Karimov received on May 29 the acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, chiefs of leading corporations of South Korea, including Kogas, Lotte Group, Lotte Chemical, Korean Air, Korea Export-Import Bank, KOICA to discuss economic cooperation issues and implementation of joint projects.
The state visit by President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov to the Republic of Korea has become a historic event in the evolution of relations, which uplifts the bilateral cooperation to a qualitatively new level.
(Source: Press-service of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan)
FINANCE
Uzbek banks closely associate the strategy of their own development with the growth of real economy
Bank investments have been contributing to the sustainable development of the economic system. Uzbek banks closely associate the strategy of their own development with the growth of real economy. It creates conditions for the expansion of production, implementation of investment projects that are aimed at the production of new, competitive products. Ranking among the leading domestic financial institutions, Uzpromstroybank has been making its own contribution into this work.
The bank is capable to finance big investment projects. Its system comprises more than forty branches, over a hundred of mini-banks, savings banks, almost a hundred mobile and special cash desks. The Program of Social and Economic Development of Territories for 2015 includes 600 projects of bank customers worth 1.7 trillion soums and $401 million. The production capacity of enterprises and organizations, the services they provide, the introduction of modern equipment and creation of new jobs are taken into account in the process of selection, analysis and loaning of projects.
More than a hundred projects that meet the abovementioned criteria have been completed since the beginning of the year. For example, a loan of 600 million soums has empowered a Kavsar Madad private enterprise of Surkhandarya region to launch a manufacture of slate. Having obtained a loan of 700 million soums, a Honka Parrandachilik society of Khorezm region could establish a modern poultry farm. By the end of 2015 it is planned to carry out more than 500 projects that would provide almost 14,000 new jobs (currency rates of CB RU from 01.06.2015 1$=2532.34 soums).
The bank has been actively supporting the companies that run projects on localization of production. Last year, it allocated 161 billion soums for the purchase of equipment and raw materials for the establishment of manufactures. In the first quarter of 2015, banks granted 37 billion soums of loans to five companies. For instance, the Sanoat Gilam Company has launched the manufacture of polypropylene yarn through the loan of two billion soums, and Uzkabel has received five billion soums to expand its production.
In 2015, under the Investment Program, the bank will finance 14 big investment projects on technical and technological extension, modernization of production in the basic sectors of economy, inducing oil and gas, chemical industry, and power generation. That would contribute to the production of competitive, export-oriented products and raise the level of employment.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
International cooperation: Investment
Focus on Investment
Over 4,000 companies in Uzbekistan have been established with foreign investments from more than 90 countries. Some companies have been fully financed by foreign investors and are run by corporate governance.
As a result of reforms in denationalization and privatization a significant part of the industry has been transferred to the ownership of private domestic and foreign companies. That has allowed technological re-equipping of the forefront industries within a short time span, and making the Uzbek economy more competitive and efficient in general. In 2014 alone, 288 state-owned assets were transferred to the private sector, 182 of which were signed away at zero cost.
Decentralization and privatization have entailed the establishment of over a thousand joint-stock companies. Over the years, more than 31,000 state-owned enterprises were privatized, giving way to nearly 1.2 million shareholders.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
Exhibiton
Trendy Style
These spring days, Tashkent has turned into the concentration of fashion trends from around the world. The capital is hosting the leading designers and representatives of fashion houses from Europe and Asia, as well as textile manufacturers who have arrived for the country’s most stylish exhibition – TextileExpo Uzbekistan.
This year’s exhibition has acquired new content. Previously, it united textile machinery with the representatives of fashion and design and manufacturers of finished articles on one platform. The dynamic development of the domestic light industry has led to the resolution on making it a separate direction. It has also been conditioned by the ambitions of Uzbekistan to promote the domestic garment and fashion industry as a separate field that would attract international experts and connoisseurs of style alphabet.
This is the reason why the capital’s Uzexpocentre has turned these days into a kind of a sewing workshop that exhibits the tools of creation of modern fabrics, sewing adult and children’s clothing, accessories by the leading international manufacturers, as well as finished articles of domestic companies.
For the first time ever the visitors participated in the world-class fashion event. Within two days of the International Festival Fashion and Design 2015, famous foreign designers and experts presented their works. The list of guests included the representatives of the French Federation of Women’s Ready-To-Wear Clothing, the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, the Association of Italian Textile Designers, experts of Tokyo Institute of Design and the Kyoto Institute of Technology, the Korea Textile and Fashion Institute, Textile and Fashion Federation of Singapore, Youngone (Korea), SES (Germany), Koton (Turkey), Italian Golden Lady, Colcedonia companies, and others.
This year, the list of participants of the exhibition is represented by over 70 companies, of which 40% are domestic, and 60% – foreign brands. Such attention of foreign companies to the market of Uzbekistan is quite obvious. Every year the country’s ginneries harvest over 3.4 million tons of raw cotton, which after processing provide about 1.1 million tons of fiber – quality raw material for light industry.
Today, there are over three thousand enterprises of different forms of ownership, which specialize in the manufacture of various kinds of textile products. Districts of the Ferghana Valley are the traditional areas of enterprises, however, the authorities have been working purposefully on the establishment of manufactures in other regions of the country. Over the last decade, the volume of investments in the industry has exceeded $2 billion, a significant share of which are direct foreign investments of the EU, Turkey, India, Singapore, South Korea and Japan companies.
A joint venture Indorama Kokand Textile is a striking example of successful cooperation. The Singaporean side has already invested about $90 million. The enterprise’s capacity exceeds 20,000 tons of fiber per year. The fourth stage of expansion of the production envisages the launch of the spinning manufacture with an annual capacity of 12,000 tons of cotton yarn. The total cost of the project makes up $50 million, and the commissioning is scheduled for 2017.
Through the implementation of like projects Uzbekistan intends to bring the volume of exports to $2.8 billion by 2019. Last year, Uzbekistan’s exports of finished fabric, dyed knitted fabric, dyed yarn, garments and knitwear amounted to $1 billion. Today, the Uzbek articles are sold in nearly 50 countries. The CIS countries have traditionally been important markets. This year, the Uzbek enterprises have launched exports to Latin America, Africa and the United States.
In the coming years, Uzbekistan plans to implement 77 new projects totaling $918 million, including 21 foreign-invested companies.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
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