Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- According to the results of January-March 2020, the foreign trade turnover (FTT) of Uzbekistan reached US$8.14 billion, which, compared to the same period of last year, decreased by US$924.1 million.

Of the total FTT, exports of Uzbekistan reached US$3.37 billion (a decrease of 10.9% was recorded (to the January-March 2019), and imports were US$4.76 billion (a decrease of 9.7%). A passive balance of foreign trade in the amount of US$1.39 billion was recorded.

Significant changes were achieved in the structure of exports as a result of an increase in the production of products that replaced imported goods and the diversification of industrial production.

Uzbekistan has trade relations with more than 150 countries of the world. The largest volume of its foreign trade turnover among them was recorded with the Russian Federation (16.9%), China (16.8%), Kazakhstan (8.3%), the Republic of Korea (6.7%), Turkey (5.8%), Kyrgyzstan (2.3%) and Germany (2.1%).

In addition, there is a strengthening of relations with neighboring states, a lot of work to develop relations in the socio-economic, commercial, industrial and cultural sphere with these countries.

In particular, in recent years, significant changes in the FTT have been observed with neighboring states, for example, such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The presence of an active foreign trade balance with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan can be considered as a positive result in the country’s foreign trade.

The largest volume of the FTT with other states (except neighboring countries) falls on Russia, China, the Republic of Korea and Turkey.

Among the 20 major partner countries for foreign economic activity, there is also an active foreign trade balance with seven countries, in particular with Afghanistan (US$151.1 million), Kyrgyzstan (US$121.2 million), Tajikistan (US$78.8 million), Turkey (US$62.3 million), Iran (US$16.4 million), United Arab Emirates (US$15.7 million) and France (US$10.1 million). With the other 13 countries, a passive balance of foreign trade is maintained.

One third of the FTT volume falls on the CIS countries and, in recent years, there is a tendency to increase this indicator. This, in turn, indicates the expansion of foreign economic relations with the CIS countries.

As a result of measures taken by the government of the republic to strengthen cooperation with the CIS countries and comprehensive support for foreign trade, the share of foreign trade of the CIS countries, compared to the same period in 2019, increased by 2.5% and their share in foreign trade, according to the results of January-March 2020, reached 36.2%.

The volume of foreign trade turnover of other states in January-March 2020 decreased (a decrease of 13.6%) and reached 63.8% of the total foreign trade turnover.

As you know, the development of international economic relations contributes to sustainable economic growth of exports in order to achieve certain results.

At the same time, the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has a negative impact on the development of economic relations, sustainable export growth, which, in turn, impedes the achievement of certain results.

In January-March of the current year, the total number of exporting entities reached 3,298 units, and this ensured that the volume of exports excluding special exports was brought up to US$2.36 billion (a decrease of 7.4% compared to the same period of 2019).

In the export structure, 81.4% is occupied by goods, which mainly account for industrial products (18.7%), mineral fuels, lubricating oils and similar materials (9.0%), food products and live animals (5.9 %).

There is a difference in the direction of export of goods and services between the CIS countries and other foreign countries. Thus, 28.9% of exports to the CIS countries are primarily exported by services, followed by industrial goods, various finished products, as well as mineral fuels, lubricating oils and similar materials.

During the reporting period, the export of animal and vegetable oil, drinks, tobacco, non-food raw materials (except fuel), machinery and transport equipment, as well as various finished products to the CIS countries increased at the fastest pace; the decline was primarily noted in the export of mineral fuel , chemicals, non-food raw materials, food and live animals.

An analysis of the structure of exported goods and services in January-March 2020, sent to other countries, showed that, compared with January-March 2019, the volume of exports of mineral fuels, lubricants and similar materials, non-food raw materials, as well as various finished products decreased.

Over the past three years, the volume of exports to the CIS countries has increased and their share in its total volume has increased from 27.5% in the first quarter of 2018 to 33.8% this year. Accordingly, the share in the total exports of other foreign countries reached 66.2%.

Compared with January-March 2018-2019, our main partners in the export of goods and services in foreign trade in January-March 2020 were such countries as the Russian Federation (13.5% of total exports), China (11, 9%), Turkey (7.9%), Kazakhstan (5.6%), Kyrgyzstan (4.6%), Afghanistan (4.5%), and Tajikistan (2.9%). Their share in total exports reached 50.7%.

In January-March 2020, compared to the same period, among the seven major partner countries for the export of goods and services, China went down one position, losing its leading position in the share of exports of the Russian Federation. The geography of partner countries for the export of goods and services, compared with the same period in 2019, increased from 127 to 137 countries.

The largest volume of exported goods among the major partner countries are mineral fuels, lubricants and similar materials, industrial goods, as well as various finished products.

The volume of services exports in January-March 2020 made up US$628.7 million, or 18.6 % of its total volume, and decreased by 6.7% compared to the same period in 2019. over the past three years, the share of services in total exports has increased due to growth. Transport services (57.4 %) and travel (tourism) (32.2%) account for the lion’s share of services exports.

The rest include telecommunications, computer and information services (5.4%), construction services (1.7%) and other services (1.8%), in particular, such as government goods and services that are not classified in other categories, financial services, etc.

The volume of exports of fruit and vegetable products in physical terms reached more than 257.2 thousand tons and, in value terms, exceeded US$136.7 million (the rate of decline, compared to the same period in 2019, respectively reached 18.3% and 33.1 %). Of these, 211.4 thousand tons of vegetables were exported in the amount of US$83.4 million, as well as 45.8 thousand tons of fruits and berries in the amount of US$53.3 million (the rate of decline in value terms, compared to the same period in 2019, respectively, reached 33.3 % and 32.8 %).

The main markets for fruit and vegetable exports are Kazakhstan, Russia, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Due to the fact that the government pays considerable attention to the development of agriculture and horticulture, the quality and volume of exported goods increase from year to year. Thus, in January-March 2020, the share of fruit and vegetable products in the total export volume was 4.1%.

The largest amount in value terms, exports of fruits and vegetables falls on Kazakhstan (25,6% of the total fruits and vegetables), which exceeds the volume of export to the Russian Federation 1.4 times.

The increase in the volume of textile exports can be directly considered as a result of reforms to produce finished products and create added value instead of raw cotton production. For example, according to the results of January-March 2020, textile products were exported in the amount of US$463.5 million, which accounted for 13.7% of the total export volume and, compared to January-March 2019, it increased by 1.3 times.

The main share of textile exports is made up of cotton yarn (50.0%), as well as finished knitwear and clothing (27.2%). In January-March 2020, more than 311 types of textile products were exported to 50 countries.

As a result of practical work to diversify the textile industry of the Republic and stimulate the export of finished products the potential of our country in this area is increasing.

The largest share of textile exports is to the Russian Federation (US$182.0 million -39.3%), China (US$88.9 million - 19.2%) and Turkey (US$60.5 million -13.1%).

During the reporting period, imports reached US$4.76 billion (the decrease in growth rates, compared to January-March 2019, was 9.7%).

The main share in its structure is occupied by machinery and transport equipment (36.9%), industrial goods (16.1%), as well as services (9.5%).

Analysis of the dynamics of imports of goods and services also showed that in January-March 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, the volume of imports of goods decreased by US$480.1 million and reached US$4.31 billion, while imports of services reached US$454.8 million.

The largest share of imports of food products and live animals (74.8%), non-food raw materials, except fuel (81.5%), as well as mineral fuels, lubricants and similar materials (95.9%) falls on the CIS countries, while in other foreign countries the lion’s share falls on machinery and transport equipment (87.5%), chemicals and similar products (76.2%).

Analysis of the structure of imported goods and services in January-March 2020 also showed that, compared to January-March 2019, the share of imports of non-food raw materials increased from 4.4 % to 5.7%, and the share of food and live animals, industrial goods decreased from 7.8 % to 7.0 %, from 17.1 % to 16.1 %, respectively.

The analysis of imports of services also showed that in January-March 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, the share of total imports increased from 9.2% to 9.5 %.

The decrease in food imports is due to sugar, sugar and honey products (by 39.1 %), cereals and their products (by 20.8%), beverages (by 18.5%), vegetables and fruits (by 5.8%), various food products and preparations (2.1%).

Also, the decrease in imports for mineral fuels, lubricants and similar products is noted due to a decrease in imports of crude oil and bitumen (by 7.6 %).

In dynamics, the ratio of the share of imports with the CIS countries and other foreign countries remains stable, which, within the limits, is a ratio of 37.9:62.1.

At the end of the reporting period, the first place among the major partner countries for imports has kept China with the share of imports in total 20.2% and Russian Federation, which, with a share of 19.3%, is in second place.

Compared to the same period in 2019, the top seven partner countries for imports did not change.

In general, goods and services from 126 countries were imported to the Republic of Uzbekistan in January-March 2020.

Seven major partner countries (the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Germany and Italy) have a share of 70.2% in total imports, which is 3,347. 6 million US dollars.

As the investment climate in the country improves and as a result of ongoing reforms in this area, it is natural to increase imports of machinery and transport equipment. Thus, given the large volumes of investments from China, Korea, Russia, Germany and Turkey, there remains a high share of these countries in the volume of imports of these products.

The volume of imports of services in January-March 2020 reached US$454.8 million, or 9.5% of its total volume, and decreased by 6.3% compared to the same period in 2019. The main share in the import of services is travel (tourism - 64.3%) and transport services (16.0%).

According to the results of January-March 2020, the volume of imports of construction materials in its total volume reached 5.3 % and reached US$250.4 million.

In its structure, the main share is taken by wood and products made of it (52.3 %), glass and products made of it (5.8 %), cement (5.1 %), and asbestos (2.0 %).

In General, the volume of imports of building materials in January-March 2020, compared with 2019, decreased (the decrease was 15.5 %).

The increase in imports of construction materials, compared to previous years, is directly related to large-scale reforms in the field of landscaping, in particular, housing construction, reconstruction and improvement of settlements.

The WTO partnership with the countries listed above can be regarded as the result of the visits of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to 15 countries over the past three years, including visits and bilateral mutually beneficial agreements signed there with partner countries.