Baku, Azerbaijan, March 27
By Fakhri Vakilov – Trend:
Gold, as well as energy and oil products for two months of 2019, still dominate in Uzbek merchandise exports, Trend reports with reference to Uzbek State Statistics Committee.
Export of gold amounted to $1231.4 million and energy carriers to $485.3 million. These commodity items account for more than 56 percent of the total exports of Uzbekistan, which amounted to just over 3 billion.
Analysts of State Statistics Committee pointed out that as compared with the corresponding period last year, there were no significant changes in the export structure.
Official statistics recorded that gold exports in January-February of this year decreased slightly by $59 million compared with the corresponding period last year, while exports of natural gas increased three-fold, to $446 million. The main buyer was China, which purchased energy and petroleum products from Uzbekistan by $243.3 million and increased purchases four times over the same period last year.
Gold and energy "saved" the export of Uzbekistan in 2018, so that the trade balance of the country was significantly improved. Last year, gold exports exceeded $2.9 billion, energy - $2.6 billion which is almost 40 percent of Uzbekistan’s total exports.
Experts of the State Statistics Committee noted that the development of foreign trade relations of Uzbekistan is based on the real needs of the national economy, which is in the process of implementing market reforms. At the same time, it is aimed at integrating Uzbekistan into the world economy, occupying a worthy place in a number of developed countries of the world.
As President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted in his message to Parliament, Uzbekistan set a goal in 2019 to increase exports by 30 percent and bring it to $18 billion.
The head of state stressed that for this purpose Uzbekistan should switch to an export-oriented economy, form a competitive environment in the domestic market.
Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri