TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 17. Uzbekistan will allocate $340 million for the development program of the leather, shoe and fur industries from 2023 through 2025, Trend reports.
The largest share of this financing, amounting to $100 million, will be provided by the French Development Agency and the World Bank through loans. Additionally, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will contribute $200 million to support the program. In a cost-effective move, the program will also utilize $40 million in unused loans to bolster its financial resources.
Moreover, a loan from the budget in the amount of 50 billion Uzbek soums ($4.1 million) for up to 10 years will be allocated for the construction of a centralized water treatment facility in a leather and shoe small industrial zone in the Akhangaran district of Uzbekistan’s Tashkent region.
Meanwhile, the Italian National Association of Manufacturers of Footwear, Leather Goods, and Leather Production Technologies (ASSOMAC) expressed its readiness to invest $1.5 million in the development of leather and footwear production in Uzbekistan in September 2023.
The Italian partners expressed their readiness to send funds to create a technological center in the leather and footwear industry of Uzbekistan. The center will be engaged in the production and maintenance of equipment for the leather and textile industries.