July 14, 2011-Targeting new
technologies and investments
One of the main
indicators of economic stability is attracting foreign investment. Uzbekistan
has all the necessary conditions for attracting foreign investors who enjoy
numerous privileges and preferences. A striking example is Namangan region.
Today there are
more than 50 enterprises with foreign capital operating in the region. Forty
two of them specialize in industrial production, 3 in sales and services,
another 3 in agricultural processing, 4 in the telecommunications sector, two
companies engaged in production of building materials and one pharmaceutical
company. In the first quarter of this year they produced 35.9 billion soums of
products, 126.4% against the same period last year. Joint ventures accounted
for 16.2% of total industrial output and 59% exports of the region.
Nestle Uzbekistan,
organized jointly with the Swiss partners, is one of the enterprises standing
firmly on the road of development and making a worthy contribution to our
economy.
On the basis of
the government resolution on the establishment of the Uzbek-Swiss joint venture
Nestle Uzbekistan, the JV had drawn $30 million of foreign investments ahead of
schedule and in 2002 launched production of baby food, dairy products, as well
as clean drinking water enriched with micronutrients.
The company¡¯s
products, which is the only such in Central Asia, has taken a strong position
in the domestic and export markets with its high quality. This played an
important role in the annual growth in production volumes. If in the first year
the company manufactured products for 7 billion soums, in 2010 the figure
reached 59 billion soums. And this year the joint venture plans to bring it to
80 billion soums.
The company pays
great attention to expansion of exports, including in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan
and Turkmenistan. Last year, exports realized $3.2 million, In the first four
months of this year exports had totaled $2.2 million by the end of the year the
company expects it to exceed $10 million.
In the past five
years Nestle has additionally invested $1 million in the development of Namangan
enterprise. In addition, the company takes steps to further develop and enhance
the production facilities, in particular baby food. In the early years the
company was annually producing 90 tons of baby food, in 2010 produced 600 tons
for domestic and export markets, and this year is planning to produce 900 tons
of child food. Such growth rate, in turn, speaks of the increasing demand for
these products.
¡°Our company can
process 140 tons of milk a day,¡± says Abrorjon Mahkamov, head of agricultural
department at Nestle Uzbekistan. ¡°We have 45 refrigerator points in the region
where we buy milk from local population and farmers. We pay for the milk basing
on its fat content and quality to bank account or on plastic cards. To secure
the cooperation with suppliers we use prepayment system. This encourages them
more.¡±
Indeed, if in
the first years the company was buying 7,000 tons of milk a year; today it buys
16 thousand tons. In addition, it has agreements with livestock farmers.
However, this is not enough to load the enterprise at full capacity.
The
joint venture in Namangan currently employs 250 people and is taking steps to
attract qualified professionals. Based on the agreement signed between the
government of Uzbekistan and the Swiss Confederation on the second phase of the
project Skills Development in Uzbekistan, the company provides practical
training to students of Namangan regional professional college of consumer
services which is also involved in the Uzbek-Swiss project.