OREANDA-NEWS. October 20, 2014. The 10th International Uzbek Cotton and Textile Fair organized on the initiative of President Islam Karimov opened in Tashkent.

The cotton forum in Uzbekistan at the highest level has become a good tradition. It has been ten years that this stage offers the representatives of cotton and textile industry and traders from various countries of the world a unique opportunity to not only discuss the trends in the development of these sectors and the state of prices in global markets, to get familiar with the Uzbek cotton industry complex, but also reach direct deals for the supply of cotton fiber and goods produced from it.

The interest in boosting mutually advantageous ties with Uzbekistan in the cotton business has been growing from one year to another. Back in 2005, the International Uzbek Cotton and Textile Fair was attended by representatives of around 170 companies of the cotton and textile business from 30 countries. Yet this time around, officials from more than 1,000 firms and companies from about 50 nations of the world have come to the event. The geography of Uzbek cotton’s exports has also undergone substantial transformation. Thus, before the year 2000 the major markets for the Uzbek cotton fiber used to be the countries of Europe, while in recent years the exports to China, Bangladesh and Southeast Asian nations has risen.

Participants of the forum from abroad who arrived in Tashkent say they are keenly interested in the enhancement of trade-economic and investment cooperation with Uzbekistan. Today, our country is sixth major producer of cotton and fifth biggest exporter of it. Uzbekistan’s policy in this sector spearheads the introduction of new technologies to produce cotton fiber, improvement of its quality and technical characteristics, along with the further development of light industry with growth in internal reprocessing of crude and increase in the manufacture of goods with higher added value.

Ray Butler, Managing Director of the international agency Cotton Outlook, said it is the tenth time he is taking part in the International Uzbek Cotton and Textile Fair, and the event has been gaining in popularity with people in the cotton and textile business. Today, according to the official, the fair has an eventful program that includes the demonstration of Uzbekistan’s cotton and textile industry capacities. All this speaks of a considerable progress. Butler informed that his agency regularly publishes quotations on the Uzbek cotton that has high quality indicators and enjoys demand in the global market. “I hope our fruitful interaction will keep advancing.”

To date, 107 sorts of cotton have been bred in Uzbekistan, 27 of which are included in the public register and are recommended for sowing in various regions of the country. When planning breeding works, scientists take into account the climatic conditions, they pay a special attention to such parameters as high productivity and quality of fiber, elevation of resistance to salinization and moisture insufficiency, to diseases and pests and extremely high temperatures.

Samples of all series of fiber produced this season at the cotton ginneries of Uzbekistan are presented at the Uzexpocenter. As foreign experts noted, the rise in the image and competitiveness of the Uzbek cotton fiber in the global market has been facilitated by structural reforms in the cotton industry. One of the most important achievements is the modernization and technological renewal of production capacities. Re-equipment of enterprises has been based on the ultimate cut of manufacturing areas and the introduction of cutting-edge hardware with flexible power-saving technologies, systems of automated control, electronic registration and calculation of crude and goods.

The rise in quality of fiber has been helped also by the perfection of the system of classification of cotton crude and finished goods carried out with joint efforts of the Uzpakhtasanoat Association and the Sifat Center, a member of the Bremen Cotton Association and the International Cotton Advisory Committee. The center and its regional laboratories check the characteristics of fiber with the help of modern high-tech system HVI. The results of such trials have a complete confidence of customers for it meets the highest international standards.

“The Uzbek cotton is distinct with the high quality of fiber and suits all the requirements of the global market,” President of the Bangladesh Cotton Association M.Ayub has said. “This year we intend to purchase 175 thousand tons of cotton fiber.”

Mechanized picking of cotton being implemented across the nation facilitates the timely and effective harvest of yield as well as its supply in time. To further these goals, manufacturing of cotton harvesting machinery of improved modification has been established in Uzbekistan. Notably, the Uzbek-German joint venture Uz Claas Agro produces modern models of tractors capable of conducting inter-row cultivation, sowing, farming, spraying and chasing cotton. This year, more than 1,200 modern cotton harvesting machines of domestic production are working in the fields of the country.

Owing to the measures being taken in Uzbekistan, the volume of internal reprocessing of cotton fiber that used to amount to as little as 7 percent of the total volume of production in the 1990s, reached 40 percent in 2011. Expert forecasts suggest that in 2016 the indicator of internal reprocessing of cotton fiber should reach 60 percent.

The steadfast reorientation of the domestic exports from crude cotton to the finished goods with high added value helps build up the capacities of the light industry. Currently, the Uzbekyengilsanoat Joint Stock Company incorporates around 300 enterprises, which wield production capacities to manufacture 385 thousand tons of yarn, 284.5 million square meters of cotton cloth, 88.3 thousand tons of jersey knits, 225.8 million pieces of sewing-knitted goods, 43.1 million pairs of leg-wear garments.

The availability of stable raw base, the high quality of cotton fiber, reasonable prices for resources, highly qualified labor force make the industry appealing for foreign investments. Thus, within the world trends, joint textile enterprises are set up every year in the country, which include finishing, knit and sewing production capacities, coloring-decoration devices are installed that allow for dyeing and adorning the fabrics in accordance with contemporary requirements for the production of quality ready goods.

As the data of the Uzbekyengilsanoat suggest, in excess of 80 enterprises with investors from South Korea, Switzerland, Singapore, Japan, India and other countries have been set up in Uzbekistan within the last four years. The textile capacities today enjoy a boost. A special significance is to be attached to the revitalization of elaborated models with an eye to the state of the market, to the creation of competitive designs of apparel, to the provision of consultative assistance to enterprises in the formation of order portfolios.

“A great attention is paid in Uzbekistan to outfitting the light industry enterprises with state-of-the-art equipment,” Senior Vice President at Rieter AG Carsten Liske has suggested. “Thanks to the introduction of advanced technologies, finished textile goods of high quality are produced in your country. In addition, favorable conditions are created for investing in the sphere. For instance, the foreign enterprise Rieter Uzbekistan was launched in 2012 in this country to launch the production of belt conveyer, card silver and spinning machinery. The enterprise has been successful, and we are delighted with the results.”

A wide range of goods from Uzbekistan’s light industry enterprises has been presented in the fair. They include cotton yarn, cloth, fabrics, and finished sewing items. The Sharq Liboslari design center has organized a fashion show of outfits made from natural fabrics, which triggered a keen interest of fair participants from abroad and which is indicative of the tremendous capacities of Uzbekistan’s fashion industry.

Speaking at the occasion, Director of the International Cotton Advisory Committee A.Gitchuns, member of the Board of Directors of the Bremen Cotton Exchange F.Grobien, Director General of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation C.Schindler, Director of South Korea’s Textile Development Institute N.Park and others pointed out that cooperation with Uzbekistan in the cotton and textile sectors has a lot of advantages. They include first and foremost the liberalization of economic relations ongoing in the country, the availability of high quality raw material, stability in the supply of energy, access to the largest external markets, as well as the expanding domestic market. Moreover, the government provides comprehensive support for the implementation of investment projects in the sector by offering the investors considerable tax and customs privileges and production preferences.

On the first day of the fair, presentations took place to demonstrate the investment potential of the country’s regions and projects in the textile industry. Talks were held with delegations of countries purchasing the Uzbek cotton fiber and textiles; the negotiations were attended by their producers and officials of foreign trade companies of our country.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh.Mirziyoev addressed the participants of the opening ceremony of the 10th International Uzbek Cotton and Textile Fair.