Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - A news conference was held at the Agency for Information and Mass Communications under the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the participation of representatives of the Uzcharmsanoat Association on the implementation of the resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan PP-4453 dated September 16, 2019 “On measures for further development of light industry and stimulating the production of finished products”.

Thanks to the implemented systemic reforms in the leather and footwear and fur industries in 2019, 1.4 times more products were produced in comparison with 2018. 86.1 million pairs of footwear, leather goods worth 60 billion soums, and products from fur and astrakhan fur worth 69.3 billion soums were produced.

During the event, it was stated that this year due to import optimization, the level of production localization in the industry will increase. This figure will reach 100 percent in the production of artificial leather, 92 percent in shoe soles, 84 percent in sports equipment and 78 percent in sports bags.

In addition, the leadership of the Uzcharmsanoat Association noted that they intend to attract about a hundred new enterprises in the industry by opening offices and trading houses in Kazakhstan, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

It is gratifying that, thanks to the favorable investment climate created in the country, over the past period the Association has done serious work to attract direct investment in the industry. So, in 2019, 90 projects were completed with foreign direct investment in the amount of US$146.2 million. For example, due to the implementation of the project at the TOP SMART LINE enterprise in Tashkent, a production capacity of 20 thousand tons of polyurethane raw materials per year was achieved.

The Association plans for the future to implement 248 new projects in cooperation with local investors in 2020-2022. The amount of the projects is 421.0 million dollars, of which 196.8 million dollars will be foreign direct investment. Thanks to this, in 2020, 7,500 new jobs will be created, while in 2020-2022 more than 21,000 people will be provided with jobs.

It was also noted during the event that new projects will mainly focus on the production of finished products with high added value, which means that production of high-quality import-substituting products for a total cost of US$360.0 million will be launched.