Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover makes up US$25.77 billion; ADB Grant to Help Tajikistan Reconnect to the Central Asian Power System; NBU and Credit Suisse sign a framework loan agreement for 200 million euros; SFI Management Group attracts Italian company Danieli to projects in Uzbekistan;
Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover makes up US$25.77 billion
In January-October 2018, Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover made up US$25.77 billion and increased compared to the same period of last year by 15.9%.
State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan said that Uzbekistan reduced exports by 4.1% – to US$10.26 billion and increased imports by 34.4% – to US$15.51 billion.
Foreign trade balance with a minus US$5.25 billion. As a result of the increase in production of products that replaced imported goods and the diversification of industrial production, significant changes have been achieved in the structure of exports. For example, an analysis of the trend in the share of cotton fiber in total exports showed that in January-October 2015, the share of exports of cotton fiber amounted to 4.1% of total exports, while 296,100 tonnes of raw materials were exported. In January-October 2016, 295,500 tonnes of cotton fiber were exported. In January-October 2017, its share in total exports fell to 3.1% and 204,800 tonnes of raw materials were exported.
ADB Grant to Help Tajikistan Reconnect to the Central Asian Power System
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $35 million grant to reconnect Tajikistan’s electricity system to the Central Asian Power System (CAPS) through interconnection with the Uzbekistan system. This will help expand regional energy trade and improve regional energy efficiency among countries connected to CAPS.
ADB, through the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program, actively promotes regional power trading among central Asian countries and the expansion of power exports to Afghanistan and Pakistan from the region.
An interconnected power system in central Asia will benefit all countries, optimize power use, enhance regional energy efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
NBU and Credit Suisse sign a framework loan agreement for 200 million euros
On 13 November 2018, a framework loan agreement was signed in Zurich between the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of Uzbekistan and the leading Swiss bank Credit Suisse in the amount of 200 million euros.
The agreement envisages cooperation in the field of joint financing of investment projects implemented in the Republic of Uzbekistan, under the guarantee of export credit agencies (ECA), without providing a state guarantee. The key advantage of this agreement is the ability to finance projects involving the supply of equipment and technology from Switzerland, Europe, South Korea and China.
NBU successfully has been cooperating with Credit Suisse since 1993 in the field of trade finance and payment transactions. The signed document is one of the first agreements of this kind between the Bank of Uzbekistan and Switzerland.
SFI Management Group attracts Italian company Danieli to projects in Uzbekistan
As a result of the implementation of the first agreement for the investment project “Construction of a Casting and Rolling Complex”, Danieli will supply the main technological equipment for the production of hot-rolled sheet metal in coils.
The project will provide:
- production of hot-rolled sheets with a thickness of 1.6 to 12.0 mm in rolls in the amount of 1.04 million tons per year;
- growth in the production of rolled ferrous metals in 2021
- up to 2.1 million tons per year;
- the main raw material under construction is the Tashkent Metallurgical Plant;
- localization of a new type of product, as well as the growth of the export potential of the republic;
- the creation of new jobs for more than 400 people.
Agreement between Danieli & C.Officine Meccaniche S.p.A. and Toshkent Metallurgiya Zavodi LLC envisages future cooperation between the Uzbek and Italian sides on mutually beneficial terms.