| |
|
|
| |
Home
>
World
> Asia
> Uzbekistan
|
Business Profile
Economy: Agriculture is the main component of Uzbekistan’s economy. Livestock is reared in the steppes while a variety of crops, including grains, fruit and vegetables, is grown in the more fertile valleys. In addition, vast quantities of cotton are produced in formerly arid areas fed by artificial irrigation schemes. These have produced one of the world’s great ecological catastrophes in the Aral Sea, once one of the world’s largest inland seas, which has been deprived of the bulk of its river sources and has consequently contracted to one third of its original size. The country has substantial natural resources, especially natural gas, which is an important export earner, and oil. Uzbekistan also boasts the world’s largest opencast gold mine and has deposits of silver, uranium, copper, lead, zinc and tungsten. Machinery and vehicles account for the bulk of manufacturing output.
Self-sufficiency in food and energy products meant that Uzbekistan did not suffer as badly as other republics from the collapse of the Soviet Union and its economic system. This made reform, upon which Uzbekistan embarked in 1994, a somewhat easier prospect than for many of Uzbekistan’s neighbours. Two years earlier, Uzbekistan had joined the IMF, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (as a ‘Country of Operation’). A new currency, the Sum, was introduced in 1996, by which time a large portion of the economy was privately owned. More recently, the economy has stagnated as expected foreign investment failed to materialise and the Government lost its enthusiasm for reform. The 1997 Asian financial crisis, followed closely by the Russian economic crisis the following year, further prompted the Government to try and reassert its control of the economy and insulate it as far as possible from outside pressures by applying stringent currency and export controls. Current annual GDP growth is around three percent, while inflation has risen to 27 per cent.
Uzbekistan has joined the Economic Co-operation Organisation of ex-Soviet republics and former socialist countries. Its main trading partners are the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, along with Switzerland (the largest export market after the Russian Federation), Germany, South Korea, the UK and Turkey.
Business: Uzbekistan’s government is actively encouraging foreign investment, particularly in the processing industries for its raw material output. The January 1994 decree puts into law a number of tax incentives for foreign investors, formally lays out guarantees for property protection, and promises a faster and less bureaucratic method of registration for foreign concerns. Other areas in which the Uzbeks would like to encourage foreign investment include the financial sector, energy production, extraction and processing of mineral raw materials, textiles, telecommunications, tourism and ecology. All foreign companies currently have to be registered with the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations. Office hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1800.
Commercial Information: The following organisations can offer advice: Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, ul. T Shevchenko 1, 700029 Tashkent (tel: (71) 138 5000 or 138 5123/5; fax: (71) 138 5200 or 138 5252; e-mail: secretary@mfer.uz; website: www.mfer.uz); or Tashkent International Business Centre, 107B Amir-Temur St, 700084 Tashkent (tel: (71) 137 0934; fax: (71) 137 0935; e-mail: ibc@albatros.uz; website: www.ibc.com.uz/index-eng.html). Information can also be obtained from the US Department of Commerce Business Information Service for the Newly Independent States, USA Trade Center, Stop R*Bisnis, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC, 20230, USA (tel: (202) 482 4655; fax: (202) 482 2293; e-mail: bisnis@ita.doc.gov; website: www.bisnis.doc.gov).
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
Terms and Conditions apply.
|
|
|
|
|
