Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct.14
By Demir Azizov- Trend:
Uzbekistan plans to increase the domestic processing of cotton fiber to 500,000 metric tons by late 2015, the country's Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev said.
He made the remarks during a conference held as part of the International Cotton and Textile Fair which opened in Tashkent on Oct.13.
"The government of Uzbekistan continues its policy on reduction of cotton fiber export by creating new facilities and increasing the processing capacity," the prime minister said.
The country processed no more than seven percent of the total volume of produced cotton fiber in early 1990s, while currently, this figure exceeds 40 percent, according to the official data.
Uzbekistan produces nearly 3.5 million metric tons of raw cotton and 1-1.2 million metric tons of cotton fiber per year.
Mirziyayev said since the first cotton fair held in 2005, significant structural changes have taken place in the country's textile industry. Cotton fiber processing increasingly improves, the volume of textile production grows and the range of textile products expands. The annual growth rate of the textile products is 20 percent.
"The volume of exports of textile products has reached $1 billion in 2014," the prime minister said.
Uzbekistan has sufficient production potential and human resources to increase this figure to 60 percent, according to estimations of foreign experts. The country plans to increase the domestic processing of cotton fiber to 70 percent by 2020.
Currently, nearly 300 enterprises for cotton fiber production operate in the country and its textile products are exported to 40 countries.
The International Cotton Fair is being held in Tashkent under the auspices of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) for the 10th time.