BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 13
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
Namangan region is one of the most attractive regions in Uzbekistan in terms of investment conditions, Director of Namangan Free Economic Zone Murodjon Gafurov told Trend.
This became possible primarily due to the state support for potential investors in the region, he noted.
“Besides, excellent climate conditions, qualified personnel, rich natural resources and wide range of export opportunities play an important role in attracting more and more investors to the region. In addition, modernization of the economy and increased transparency will undoubtedly transform Namangan into a developed region in the near future,” said Gafurov.
For this purpose, in accordance with the decree of the President of Uzbekistan dated August 20, 2018, the Namangan free economic zone covering 681.4 hectares was established in the region.
“According to the Tax Code of Uzbekistan, participants in FEZ are exempt from property, land and water use taxes for a period from three to 10 years, depending on the amount of investment. It is also provided that the participants will be able to use the exemption from value added tax and other taxes in accordance with the Tax Code”, noted the director.
According to Gafurov, to date, 18 projects worth $603.1 million planned to be implemented in the in the Namangan FEZ from 2019 through 2024.
“Of these, $59.3 million are enterprises' own funds, $77.2 million are bank loans and $466.6 million are foreign investments. Following commissioning of these projects, it is planned to create 6,509 new jobs,” he said.
Gafurov stressed that Namangan FEZ, albeit recently created, has already made a significant positive impact on the economy of the Namangan region.
“Moreover, despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan noted high growth rates in Namangan region (by 3.1 percent) in the first half of 2020 on Gross Regional Product (GRP),” stated Gafurov.
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