Uzbekistan’s transformation into a textile power
“Due to the development needs of the domestic cotton textile industry, Uzbekistan will stop cotton exports starting in 2020.” Uzbek President Mirziyoyev’s recent clear statement once again showed to the outside world that Uzbekistan hopes to start from traditional cotton production. A firm determination to transform and upgrade a major country into a textile power.
Data from the National Statistical Committee of Uzbekistan show that in the first 11 months of 2018, Uzbekistan exported 110,000 tons of cotton fiber with a value of US$213 million, accounting for 1.9% of total exports and continuing to decline. At the same time, textile exports maintained a rapid growth trend. In the first 11 months of 2018, exports amounted to US$1.178 billion, an increase of 15.3% compared with the same period in 2017, accounting for 10.4% of total exports. This set of data reflects that Uzbekistan’s cotton industry is undergoing a profound transformation under the guidance of policies.
On December 14, 2017, President Mirziyoyev signed the presidential decree “Measures to Accelerate the Development of the Textile and Knitting Industry”, which pointed out the direction for the future development of Uzbekistan’s textile industry from a top-level design. Recently, the “Uzbekistan Textile Industry Development Strategy 2019-2021” formulated in accordance with the presidential decree was also officially released. The strategy is guided by tasks such as adhering to export orientation, using high technology to produce competitive technology-intensive products, encouraging industry investment and innovation, and strengthening in-depth industrial collaboration. Through the gradual implementation of relevant measures, the strategy strives to achieve the output value of the textile industry by 2021. Growth of 60%, cloth, knitwear, hosiery production growth of 50%, 80%, 230% phased goals respectively, and increase exports to 7 billion US dollars by 2025.
There are two main reasons why the Uzbek government is actively seeking to transform from cotton exports to textile exports: first, it values the higher added value of textiles, and second, it sees its own huge potential in the textile field. As a traditional cotton-growing country, Uzbekistan’s development of the textile industry according to local conditions can not only give full play to the raw material cost advantage of self-produced cotton, but also quickly realize the upgrading and promotion of local industries through the combination of foreign advanced technology and capital, and drive economic development in various regions.
In order to accelerate the development of the textile industry, Uzbekistan is also constantly creating important opportunities for itself. On the cotton planting side, Uzbekistan is vigorously promoting cotton planting to improve quality and efficiency. On the one hand, by screening out unsuitable land for cotton, cotton planting will continue to be concentrated in suitable areas, increasing the scale and efficiency of cotton planting; on the other hand, by stepping up the construction of reservoirs and other measures to ensure that cotton is fully irrigated during the growth process to improve cotton yield and quality. .
On the processing and production side, the supporting policies continuously introduced by the government not only provide better guarantee for the development of textile enterprises, but also rapidly increase the attractiveness of this field to foreign capital. Data from the Uzbekistan Textile Industry Association shows that capital from Turkey, South Korea, China, Singapore, Switzerland and other countries are actively participating in the development of Uzbekistan’s textile industry. Currently, more than 150 foreign-funded textile companies are operating and producing in Uzbekistan, 50 of which are Purely foreign-invested enterprise.
In addition to policy factors, Uzbekistan’s unique location advantages in the hinterland of Central Asia and the transportation hub of Eurasia are also highly valued by foreign investors. The Uzbek government is very aware of this, so it has clearly proposed that in the process of developing international cooperation, it will establish a regional representative office of the Uzbek Textile Industry Association to radiate the CIS region, Europe, and Southeast Asian markets. It is worth noting that the Uzbek government’s efforts in recent years to ban forced labor and improve the wages and benefits of cotton pickers have also been recognized by the international community. The U.S. Department of Labor “unbanned” cotton produced in Uzbekistan from the list of child labor and forced labor products released in late September 2018. Analysts believe that the good news that the United States has “lifted the ban” on Uzbekistan’s cotton will lay an important foundation for Uzbekistan’s textile exports to the European Union, North America, and Japanese markets.
Source: Economic Daily
Title: Uzbekistan’s transformation into a textile power
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