Russia to cooperate with Uzbekistan in the field of cotton production

Russia is strongly interested in the creation of a cotton-textile cluster in Uzbekistan, according to Alexey Gruzdev, deputy minister of industry and trade in Russia.

«We are going to go further and put more effort into our cooperation. We are ready to increase our investments in Uzbekistan, including a more active role of Russian companies in creating cotton-textile clusters in this country. Kolobkovsky Textile, a Russian textile producer, is already engaged in such a project. This is the first Russian-Uzbekistani joint project in the field of cotton-textile clusters,» said Gruzdev at the joint session of business councils of Russia and Uzbekistan.

The project will be implemented in the Khorezm region, where the company and local authorities signed a memorandum of understanding. Under the arrangement, Kolobkovsky Textile will invest about $33.7 million in the project.

The two sides also plan to build a regional cotton processing factory. According to the Eurasian Development Bank, the amount of accumulated Russian investments in Central Asia is about $21.7 billion. Uzbekistan accounts for $8.9 billion of these investments.

Over the past five years, the turnover between Russia and Uzbekistan grew by 170%.