Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Ambassador of Uzbekistan Mukhsinhuja Abdurakhmonov met with the chairman and president of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Tadashi Yanaem in the Japanese capital, Dunyo news agency reports. 

Japanese multinational retail holding company Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. in addition to its main subsidiary, Uniqlo, owns several other brands, including J Brand, Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Princesse Tam-Tam and Theory. The company was founded as "Ogōri Shōji Co., Ltd." in 1963 by Tadashi Yanai. In 1984, a company that owned a men’s clothing store in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture opened a new casual clothing store called "Unique Clothing Warehouse" in Hiroshima City; it was the forerunner of "Uniqlo". In September 1991, Ogori Shoji changed its name to Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. 

During the meeting, the head of Fast Retailing was thoroughly acquainted with the structural reforms being carried out in the republic, the conditions created for the liberalization of the foreign exchange market, as well as for doing business by foreign private companies. 

The state of development of the textile industry was also discussed in detail, in particular, the specialization of Uzbek companies, the range of products, the level of processing of raw cotton, the available international certificates of domestic companies and products, including BCI, the types and markets of exported products, the implemented quality system at enterprises, operation of the cluster system.

In addition, Tadashi Yanay was informed about the decision of the Cotton Campaign International Coalition to cancel the global boycott of Uzbek cotton, as well as about the work done in recent years by the Government of Uzbekistan to end forced labor in the cotton industry and ensure the effectiveness of ongoing reforms. It was especially noted that the abolition of the cotton boycott will help attract international recognized brands to Uzbekistan and increase the production volumes of more than seven thousand enterprises in the industry with advanced equipment from leading manufacturers, as well as increase the volume of exports of domestic production by Uzbek companies.

During the talks, issues of opening specialized stores under the company’s brands, manufacturing the company’s products at domestic enterprises, expanding cooperation between Uzbekistan and Japan in the textile industry were also discussed. 

For his part, Tadashi Yanai welcomed the decision to cancel the boycott of Uzbek cotton and noted that he and his team would work on issues of bilateral cooperation between Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. and companies of Uzbekistan.

Tadashi Yanay supported the proposal to present the products of Uzbek manufacturers for the divisions of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. during his forthcoming visit to Tokyo.

As a result of the talks, the main priority areas of cooperation were identified, an agreement was reached on further elaboration of joint proposals for cooperation.