Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Kazakhstan is the main regional economic partner of Uzbekistan. Economic cooperation between our countries in recent years has acquired accelerated development dynamics, there is an active implementation of the unrealized potential of cooperation in the economic sphere.

One of the key areas of economic cooperation is industrial cooperation. Thus, the signing of an agreement between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan regarding this direction will have a positive impact on the economies of the two countries, as it provides for the development of joint Uzbek-Kazakh enterprises.

From an economic point of view, the markets of our countries are interested in narrow cooperation. Realizing the goals of strengthening industrial cooperation will help businesses to better interact with each other. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have the conditions and prerequisites to become leaders in the implementation of economic projects that will increase the number of jobs and the welfare of the population.

In Shymkent, in 2018, the first Interregional Forum Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan was held, as a result, 16 memorandums of direct interregional cooperation were concluded, and economic entities of the regions signed agreements on the implementation of 26 investment projects worth US$110.5 million and 69 trade contracts for US$209.3 million

The forum also noted the need to modernize the infrastructure of border crossing points using digital technologies, accelerate the reconstruction of existing checkpoints, work out issues for the opening of two new checkpoints, as well as constructtion of a bus station.

In November 2021, an Interregional Forum was held on the topic “Cross-border cooperation as new points of growth”.

The forum was attended not only by the heads of states and ministries, but also by big businessmen of the two countries. Within the framework of the Forum, 54 investment and commercial contracts were signed in the fields of mechanical engineering, agro-industrial complex, production of building materials, electrical products, medical products, infrastructure development and other industries for a total of US$611.3 million.

At the moment, 1.1 thousand enterprises with the participation of Kazakh capital are operating in our country. At the same time, over 1.4 thousand enterprises with Uzbek assets have been created in Kazakhstan.

In particular, the initiatives of enterprises to build subsidiaries or branches in neighboring countries became a practical embodiment of the meeting of the two presidents. The Astana-Motors Company showed interest in the construction of a plant for the production of Hyundai cars in the city of Jizzakh.

In addition, Artel Electronics, an Uzbek household appliance company, is establishing contacts with Kazakhstan’s Orbis Kazakhstan. The basis of cooperation between the two companies is the production of electric stoves and water heaters worth US$85 million, where the plant’s capacity will reach US$500,000 per year for each product.

Also, in Kazakhstan, car assembly projects were implemented jointly with SaryarkaAvtoProm LLP and UzAuto Motors JSC and more than 1 thousand high-performance jobs were created. It is noteworthy that the most popular brand in the first ten months of this year was Chevrolet Cobalt, producing 31 thousand cars. The ente[rprise will also produce Chevrolet Onix with an annual output of 30,000 vehicles per year.

In the city of Shymkent, Kazakhstan, there is a textile factory created with the participation of the Uzbek association of light industry enterprises Alliance Textile. The volume of investments is US$12 million. At the same time, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan opened a garment factory in Turkestan for a total of US$1.6 million, and 1,000 new jobs were created.

Samarkand Automobile Plant and SaryarkaAvtoProm signed an agreement in 2021 to start production of SamAvto SAZ LE60 low-floor buses in Kazakhstan. Last year, 200 buses were produced. About 1,000 buses of the same brand were built this year.

With the participation of Kazakh investments, such projects are being implemented as the construction of the Ever Auto LLC of the Shopping Center and a multi-storey car park in Tashkent (for the amount of US$8 million, US$7 million disbursed), the construction of a hotel in Tashkent by the BI Group (for in the amount of US$9 million, disbursed US$1.5 million), etc.

Also, projects are being implemented for the production of medical products, autoclaved aerated concrete, HOWO trucks, assembling Hyundai cars, cookers and water heaters.

One of the main goals in industrial cooperation is the creation of the International Center for Industrial Cooperation (ICIC) of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In September this year. an agreement was reached on the development of design estimates for the organization of the external and internal infrastructure of the MCPC, as well as the corresponding Intergovernmental agreement on regulating the activities of the center.

Thus, the expansion of industrial cooperation between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan can help accelerate the pace of economic development and increase investment attractiveness. Most importantly, this will not only increase the economic potential of the two countries, but also the region as a whole.

Zafar Nurmatov

Head of Department, International Institute of Central Asia