On November 28 of this year, an Uzbek-Turkish business forum was held in Tashkent as part of the visit of a delegation of Turkish business circles headed by Chairman of the united industrial zone "Ostim" Orhan Aydin.

It was attended by Deputy Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Akram Aliyev, heads of regional administrations, free economic and industrial zones, heads of more than 200 large companies operating in the fields of production of electrical and chemical products, building materials, IT, metallurgy, education, tourism, trade and other areas.

In their welcoming speech, the speakers noted a significant increase in the entire range of indicators of multifaceted relations. Over the past five years, the volume of mutual trade between the two countries has increased 1.3 times to $3.1 billion. An agreement on preferential trade has been signed, and active work is underway to expand the list of goods within its framework.

Over the past 5 years, the number of joint ventures has almost tripled and reached 1,903 units. More than 300 new Turkish companies have been opened since the beginning of the year alone. In 2023, $1.2 billion of investments were disbursed.

Such large Turkish companies as Unitrade, Esan, MTA, Menderes, Zorlu, Abdi Ibrahim, Chalik, Aksa, Tashyapi, Dolsar, Cengiz, Anadolu and others are implementing major projects in such areas as mining and geology, textile production, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and the automotive industry, energy. 

In the forum's image, Turkish companies were presented with comfortable conditions created in Uzbekistan for carrying out investment activities. Among the main aspects: tax and customs privileges and preferences, confident 5% economic growth, preferential access to European markets under the GSP+ program, work on WTO accession and the creation of numerous free economic and industrial zones in the country with developed infrastructure and engineering communications.

Readiness was expressed to provide comprehensive assistance to Turkish companies in the successful implementation of both current projects and new investment initiatives.

Within the framework of the Forum, B2B negotiations were held, where entrepreneurs of the two countries were able to make new useful acquaintances, discuss the details of organizing new joint projects.

In accordance with the program, the opening of the "Global Industrial Zone Ostim" in the Zangiata district of the Tashkent region also took place. The conditions created on the territory of the new industrial zone were presented to the business community and Turkish companies were called upon to actively create their production sites on its territory.

For reference: The territory of the industrial zone "Ostim" is 100 hectares. The total cost of the project is $150 million. The zone is equipped with all utilities, a solar power plant is being built to meet some of the needs. The cluster approach to the creation of the zone includes social facilities: a shopping center, a polyclinic, a school, a hotel, R&D for research and certification, as well as a vocational college where young people will study professions in demand by manufacturing enterprises located on the territory of the zone.