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January 18, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
all in to make them welcome as if Uzbekistan can pull things off then it truly is a great investment opportunity. The audience was listening keenly as of all the European countries to go to, Germany gets it best when it comes to Eastern Europe investments. Berlin is definitely a better choice to hold an investment summit than London.
That was apparent from the speakers and panels. The event was organised by the Osteuropaverein der Deutschen Wirtschaft, and despite the pariah status that was given Karimov’s republic there were still plenty of Germans to put on the panel with real experience of working in Tashkent.
MAN Truck & Bus AG has had a joint venture in Uzbekistan to build trucks and buses for more than a decade. The representative of Commerz- bank says his institution has been working in Uz- bekistan since Soviet days, but adds that recently it has become “easier” to offer credits and the bank is increasing its mandate focusing on SMEs and micro businesses.
A host of sectors are on offer and all need invest- ment. The keynote speaker was Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for invest- ments Suhrob Kholmuradov who gave a polished performance as he ticked off the sectors that were on offer.
Top of the list was tourism and the names of Uz- bekistan’s legendary cities of Samarkand, Bukha- ra and Khiva were mentioned by nearly everyone. The country is awash in history and beautiful scenery. Alexandria Eschate, “Alexandria the fur- thest,” was founded by Alexander the Great at the southern end of the lush Fergana valley in Uzbeki- stan, and the virgin Scheherazade enticed King Shahryar with her 1,001 Arabian Nights stories in the Uzbek city of Samarkand to stop him cutting her head off.
“The tourism sector has great potential but we lack the infrastructure,” Kholmuradov told the au- dience. “If any of you come and build a hotel then the state will partially reimburse the investors.”
Hard sell
This was a hard sell. The Uzbeks at the end of last year eased visa restrictions on 45 countries and on January 15 introduce a visa-free regime for German tourists visiting Uzbekistan for 30 days. According to the State Committee for Tourism of Uzbekistan, 4,890 German citizens visited Uzbeki- stan in 2016, 7,200 in 2017 and 18,090 in 2018. This trend is bound to continue.
But there were plenty of more serious sectors on offer including pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food processing, engineering, and Uzbekistan already has a well developed automotive sector thanks
to the former joint venture with Korea’s Daewoo in Andijan, as well a moderate oil and gas sector represented at the summit by the national cham- pion Uzbekneftegaz. The speakers downplayed Uzbek’s cotton production, which has traditionally been the republic’s bread and butter (and features prominently in the national emblem) and the gold fields. They were subject to an early investment by US firm Newmont mines that went badly wrong.
But these sectors are not the real appeal of the country. Its most attractive resource is its people – something that the new leadership seems to understand.
With more than 30mn citizens, Uzbekistan is by far the most populous republic in Central Asia, and it is a young, fast-growing population, which remains an exception in the former Soviet Union. At current expansion rates the size of the popula- tion is due to overtake Poland in the next two dec- ades to make Uzbekistan the second most popu- lous country in the former Soviet bloc and it's the only one of the five 'Stans to share a border with all the others. That makes it a natural production and distribution centre for the whole region.
Kholmuradov laid out many of these opportuni- ties, but like the Belarusians before him most
of what is on offer remains just potential. Of the speakers on the panels several already had a toe in the water, but after two and half decades of be- ing locked up the republic is only at the very start