Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, July 14 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Turkmenistan managed to re-direct the country's economy and transform from a supplier of raw cotton into an exporter of the finished products, the media said on Saturday.
"The recent investment activity, associated with the construction of new textile enterprises given broad participation of state and foreign investors, allowed to saturate the domestic market with extensive high-grade products," Turkmen Dovlet Haberleri state information agency said today. "Its range each year is growing steadily, by successfully competing with foreign producers of goods."
Natural raw materials, good quality are advantages stipulating a high demand for Turkmen textiles in international markets.
According to the article of Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper, cotton yarn, denim and terry fabrics, knitted fabrics, satin, cotton, finished garments and knitwear, widely produced by such large enterprises as "Turkmenbashi Jeans Complex", "Turkmenbashi textile complex", Geoktepe and Bayramali textile mills", "Kipchak textile complex" are exported to many countries in Europe, Asia and America.
According to the article, great opportunities appeared to accelerate the volume of production and manufacture of new types of domestic export-oriented textile products, including garments from fabrics that are created by innovative technologies after commissioning the Ruhabat factory for the blended yarn of cotton and polyester production.
A garment factory commissioned in the town of Bereket, Balkan region is among the successful examples of development.
Effective measures are planned to be made to further develop the textile industry. These measures include constructing the second phase of the Ashgabat textile complex, cotton spinning and cotton mills in the Dashoguz and Lebap provinces, the constructed textile and dyeing factories in Rukhabat, Akhal velayat and the second phase of a cotton mill in the city of Abadan.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at a recent meeting drew attention to the need for careful examining the world market, by focusing on the importance of analyzing the consumer demand for textile products, cotton. This will contribute to further improvement of the national export policy.
Turkmenistan will begin its cotton campaign in August which will last until October or November. It is planned to collect 1.109 million tons of the raw product from 550,000 hectares. About 1.100 million tons of the raw product were harvested last year.
Traditionally, the country exports raw cotton to China, Russia, Britain, South Korea, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Singapore, Ukraine and the Baltic countries.
Cotton production (cotton, lint and uluk) is sold through the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of the country. The local textile industry has gained momentum in recent years, is developing on the basis of the growth of domestic processing of cultivated cotton.