BCG appreciated investment prospects of Uzbekistan; State stake in Uzvtortsvetmet transferred to trust management of SFI Management Group; The trading volume on the commodity exchange has doubled; Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation sign agreements for $ 27 billion; RusHydro together with Uzbekgidroenergo to build two hydropower plants;
BCG appreciated investment prospects of Uzbekistan
Taking into account the growth of the domestic market and the availability of large and cheap labor force, the countries of this region, primarily Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, will be able to attract $ 40–70 billion of investments in non-primary industries, consulting company BCG estimated.
Experts say that the key condition for the influx of this money is the continuation of reforms aimed at improving the business climate and diversifying the economies of the countries in the region.
Traditionally, huge reserves of natural resources are a major factor in the attractiveness of Central Asian countries, but the ongoing reforms create opportunities for investment in non-commodity sectors – large populations that can provide high market capacity will support interest in them, the BCG indicates.
A big obstacle to the development of the food and textile industry, experts say, is the use of outdated irrigation systems. According to their expectations, the inflow of investments will be observed also in the petrochemical industry and in tourism. Several Korean companies have already invested $ 1.4 billion in the gas-chemical complex in Uzbekistan.
State stake in Uzvtortsvetmet transferred to trust management of SFI Management Group
In order to further improve the management system and increase the efficiency of Uzvtortsvetmet JSC through the introduction of advanced methods of corporate management, as well as in accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 735 from 16 September 2018, the share in the authorized capital of Uzvtortsvetmet JSC was transferred to the trust management of the SFI Management Group.
In accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 826 dated from 15 October 2018, in connection with the transfer to another position, the general director of the enterprise Farhod Abdullayev was relieved of his post. Konstantin Akulov was appointed as General Director of Uzvtortsvetmet.
On 17 October, a meeting was held in the conference hall of the company with the participation of representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, where the new General Director Konstantin Akulov was presented to the staff. JSC is the only enterprise in Central Asia specializing in the procurement and processing of non-ferrous scrap and waste, the production of non-ferrous metal alloys and consumer goods. Today Uzvtortsvetmet is a modern enterprise with an extensive network of procurement organizations throughout the country and providing all sectors of the economy of the Republic of Uzbekistan with high-quality non-ferrous metals.
The trading volume on the commodity exchange has doubled
The Uzbek Republican Commodity Exchange for the first nine months of this year concluded deals for 22.4 trillion soums, which is 2.2 times higher than the same period in 2017. Of these, the share of exchange trading amounted to about 92% or 20.6 trillion soums.
Representatives of the exchange reported this at a press conference held on the eve. It was also noted that since the beginning of the year the number of registered new bidders has more than quadrupled and amounted to 33.5 thousand customers.
“Thanks to government decisions adopted this year, the range and volume of goods sold through the UZEX stock exchange to domestic and foreign markets increased, access for entrepreneurs to commodity resources increased significantly, and competition among vendors and suppliers of goods increased,” the report says.
Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation sign agreements for $ 27 billion
The First Russian-Uzbek Forum of Interregional Cooperation was held in Tashkent on October 18-19. One of its significant events was the holding of an exchange of contacts between representatives of the business circles of Uzbekistan and Russia.
During the forum, the company departments and organizations of the two states signed over 800 agreements and memorandums totaling about $ 27 billion.
As a result of the agreements, 79 joint ventures, 23 new trading houses and 20 wholesale distribution centers will be created. 609 agreements were concluded in the trade and economic sphere in the amount of about $ 6.2 billion and 202 agreements in the investment sphere for $ 20.8 billion.
RusHydro together with Uzbekgidroenergo to build two hydropower plants
RusHydro and the Uzbek state-owned hydro-generating company Uzbekgidroenergo signed an agreement on cooperation in the development of hydropower industry of Uzbekistan in the framework of the forum of interregional cooperation between Russia and Uzbekistan in Tashkent.
“The key point of the agreement is the creation of a joint working group on the basis of the Institute Hydroproject and Hydroproject. The group in the first quarter of 2019 will begin to develop a feasibility study for the construction of the Mullalakska hydropower plant with a capacity of 240 MW and the Upper Perm Hydropower Plant with a capacity of 200 MW on the Pskem River in Uzbekistan. In addition, the group will work on the implementation of design and survey and research works, “- says the statement by RusHydro.
Also, RusHydro and Uzbekgidroenergo will develop cooperation in the field of construction, operation and technological development of other hydropower facilities in Uzbekistan.