Baku, Azerbaijan, July 1
By Fakhri Vakilov- Trend:
The results of the first quarter of 2019 show that the actual amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), confirmed by statistical reports, amounted to $783.3 million or 11 percent of the forecast for the year, Trend reports with reference to the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade (MIFT) of Uzbekistan.
Compared to the same period in 2018 ($325.8 million), the amount increased to $ 457.5 million, or 2.4 times.
The results of the first five months of 2019 show that the amount of utilized FDI amounted to $2.5 billion, or 40 percent of the forecast for the year, and in the first half of the year, this figure is expected to reach $3.7 billion, or 52 percent of the forecast year.
The net growth in the volume of development will exceed $3.06 billion, which is an increase 5.9 times compared to the same period of 2018 ($618.2 million).
MIFT notes the growth of investment activity in industries and areas that are not related to the areas traditionally recognized as attracting foreign direct investment, such as, in particular, the oil and gas sector.
“Significant growth of foreign direct investment is observed in the metallurgical industry (2.4 times compared to 2018), the textile industry (2.7 times), food production (3.1 times), and the pharmaceutical industry (6.3 times),” reads the message.
The ministry also notes a growth in the volume of FDI in projects of regional subordination, which has increased four times compared to the figures for 2018.
Earlier, Trend reported that according to a report by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, FDI in Uzbekistan fell to $198 million, which is two times less than in the same period last year.
The Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan commented on these data saying that there are different methods for calculating FDI in a country in world practice.
The report of the Central Bank is based on the methodology of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and is used exclusively for the compilation of the country's balance of payments, that is, it characterizes cash flow in the form of payments from country to country.
The ministry underlines that this method of calculating FDI inflows does not reveal the full picture of foreign direct investment attracted and mastered into the country during a certain period.
In turn, MIFT, together with the State Statistics Committee, calculates foreign direct investment in fixed capital attracted and developed during a certain period. According to the ministry, this method allows to obtain more accurate data.
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