Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A meeting was organized with the leadership of the Better Cotton Initiatives and the leadership of the Uztekstilprom Association.

During the meeting at the Uztekstilprom Association in Tashkent, the parties noted the growing interest of foreign companies in cooperation with Uzbekistan, in particular, in gaining access to Uzbek cotton and textile products obtained under the Better Cotton project.

It was noted that cooperation with Uzbekistan is equally interesting to the parties, Uzbekistan gets access to new markets and expands exports, BCI expands its presence in the region.

According to the head of the delegation, product certification is not the end result, the very essence of the project and its role are important, which should guarantee the consumer the sustainability and traceability of Uzbek cotton.

At the same time, much attention will be paid to developing the skills of farmers and cluster leaders to work with Better Cotton principles.

A. McClay emphasized that the main goal of the organization is to make all cotton in Uzbekistan traceable and financially profitable, expanding 3 main areas of cooperation:

1) to achieve the desired result, it is necessary to develop a five-year roadmap for cooperation with Better Cotton, with the possibility of extending it in the future.

2) in view of the growing interest in Uzbek cotton, interact with the clusters and promote them as a supplier of traceable cotton.

3) decent work cooperation - brands want to get guarantees that products do not have forced labor issues.

To achieve the Better Cotton result, an Advisory Council will be created together with the Association and the involved departments to interact within the framework of the project.

The Better Cotton initiative is currently funded by IFC and GIZ. A country manager has now been appointed. 9 cotton-textile clusters of Uzbekistan have been trained to work with the principles of BCI, covering more than 30 thousand hectares.