Uzbekistan-Malaysia Trade Ties To Grow Stronger In 2021

By R. Ravichandran KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (Bernama) -- Due to diversification of trade between Malaysia and Uzbekistan in the last few years, Uzbekistan is today the biggest trade partner for Malaysia in Central Asia. Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Malaysia Ravshan Usmanov, in an interview with Bernama, said the strategic location of the country as the main economic corridor with developed transport infrastructure helps in further growing trade turnover with the countries of the Southeast Asian region, including Malaysia. He pointed out that in general, trade and investment cooperation is growing steadily between Tashkent and Kuala Lumpur. Both countries established diplomatic ties in 1992. "Uzbekistan and Malaysia have a huge potential for further development of mutually beneficial trade, economic and investment cooperation. According to the forecasts of the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, in 2021 turnover between our countries would grow up to 15 per cent. This forecast is prepared on the basis of studies of external trade data of the two countries," he said. Trade turnover between the two countries in 2020 was US$75.76 million, according to the State Committee on Statistics of Uzbekistan. In 2020, the volume of exported goods from Uzbekistan to Malaysia increased to 60.1 per cent, estimated to be US$11.69 million, in comparison to US$7.3 million in 2019. The volume of the imported Malaysian goods to Uzbekistan was US$64.07 million. Uzbekistan, a landlocked country with some 34 million people, mainly imports palm oil, rubber products (including latex gloves), products of oil and gas and chemical industries, production lines equipment and instruments, furniture products, and other goods from Malaysia. The Ambassador explained that the main exporting goods from Uzbekistan to Malaysia are chemical fertiliser, agriculture products, textile products and services. He pointed out that Agri-food is one of the key growing sectors in Uzbekistan, a country which is also a natural gas producer. Agri-food sector's share in GDP as of 2020 is more than 40 per cent. This sector employs about 4.2 million people, which is about 30 per cent of the total employment rate in the country. Other main employment sectors are industry and services. Exports of agricultural products contributed approximately 10 per cent to Uzbekistan’s external revenue in 2020. He said that the agriculture sector has recently received a further boost after the adoption of the Strategy for Agriculture Development in Uzbekistan for 2020-2030. Usmanov said that targeted public policies and investments helps Uzbekistan to become a leading producer and exporter of high-value agri-food products in Central Asia. Currently, Uzbekistan's agriculture products are exported to 76 countries. "In this context, cherry is one of the most ‘trendy’ fruits of recent years in the global market and Uzbekistan is one of the largest producers of it in the world. The main season for harvesting and exporting cherries from Uzbekistan usually begins in April and lasts until July, with May to June the peak period for cherry picking, depending on weather conditions," he said. Uzbekistan's cherry is currently being exported to 24 countries, with Malaysia and Thailand as main export destination markets in Southeast Asia. Usmanov said that in recent years, Uzbekistan's cherry exports to Malaysia is on the uptrend. "In June Malaysia has received three shipments (around five tonnes) of sweet cherries from Uzbekistan. We believe that the Uzbek cherries have high export potential due to price competitiveness, pre-cooling, and packaging technology," he said. Usmanov said that increasing number of newly established and modernisation of existing production facilities in Uzbekistan in accordance with international standards, including with share of foreign investors, provides a good opportunity to supply high quality and competitive goods to foreign markets, including agri-food products. -- BERNAMA