There is a huge untapped potential between Uzbekistan and Egypt

At the meeting, the director of the CERR, Obid Khakimov, made a presentation.

In his speech, the head of the CERR noted that in recent years, Uzbek-Egyptian relations in the economic sphere have entered an active phase of their development. Since 2017, there has been an intensification of mutual trade and investment cooperation, which are given priority.

It was noted that following the official visit of Egyptian President Abdulfattah Said Hussein Khalil al-Sisi to Uzbekistan on September 4, 2018, trade and investment agreements worth $483 million were reached.

According to CERR estimates, the trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Egypt has more than tripled over the past five years, from about $10 million in 2017 to $30.5 million in 2022. Uzbekistan's exports to Egypt have increased 16-fold.

At the same time, the structure of Uzbek exports to Egypt includes textile products, transport equipment and services, including air transport services. The structure of Uzbekistan's imports from Egypt in 2022 includes such goods as foodstuffs, chemical products ($2.08 million), machinery and transport equipment and services.

According to the director, cooperation in the investment sphere is actively developing. There are 29 joint ventures with Egyptian capital operating in Uzbekistan. Together with the Egyptian company Solyphar, work is underway to implement a project for the construction of a pharmaceutical production facility in the Bustonlik-Pharm FTZ in the Tashkent region (the project cost is about $20 million). The issue of organizing the production of hepatitis C drugs in the Kashkadarya region ($1.4 million) is being worked out with the Egyptian company One World Pharma. Negotiations were held with Kapo Agri to establish fishing in Namangan region ($1 million).

At the same time, it was noted in the speech that, as the analysis of investment opportunities and data on the volume of mutual trade shows, there is a huge untapped potential between Uzbekistan and Egypt.

Speaking about the ongoing large-scale, consistent and systemic democratic reforms in Uzbekistan, the head of the CERR noted that the country has set goals to increase the growth of industrial production by 40% and attract additional investments in the amount of more than $120 billion. At the same time, by the end of 2026, the share of private banks will reach 60% of the total assets of banks, from 2023 the value added tax is reduced from 15% to 12%, and income tax for enterprises such as banking, finance and telecommunications is reduced to 15%.

"All this gives large Egyptian companies the opportunity to participate in various trade and economic projects of Uzbekistan, to develop joint investment projects taking into account the central location in Central Asia, which will increase both productivity and export opportunities," said Obid Khakimov.

Public Relations Sector of the CERR