Uzbekistan is set to establish the Agency for the Development of the Light Industry, which will oversee the textile, leather, and silk sectors. This development was announced on August 13th during a video conference chaired by the President, focusing on expanding export opportunities and leveraging reserves within the textile industry.
The new agency will be headed by Nozimjon Kholmurodov, the First Deputy Minister of Investments, Industry, and Trade.
An advisory council comprising experienced entrepreneurs will be formed under the agency. The department will also have its own fund, allocating $200 million, to provide state support and affordable working capital to textile enterprises.
The agency, in collaboration with the council, has been tasked with fostering dialogue with entrepreneurs, developing solutions to reduce costs, improving production efficiency, increasing exports, doubling the export of finished products through the “processing on customs territory” regime, strengthening cooperation, and revitalizing underperforming enterprises.
Furthermore, a program for the development of the textile industry up to 2030 will be formulated in collaboration with international consultants, along with proposals for the advancement of the leather, silk, and carpet weaving industries.
“Governors, heads of clusters, and textile enterprises must understand one thing: in the current environment, it is very difficult to attract even 1 sum of additional income to the budget. The support that is being discussed today amounts to 7 trillion soums in monetary terms. Now there must be a corresponding result,” the President emphasized.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that in light of the rapid changes in global trade rules and ongoing disruptions in logistics, special approaches are needed for the development of the textile industry, hence the creation of the Agency for the Development of the Light Industry.
Nozimjon Kholmurodov has served as the First Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade since August 2022. Prior to this, he held the position of First Deputy Governor of the Bukhara region.