05.06.2020

Localization, competition development, creation of jobs and sources of income are the essence of our economic policy today. It is these factors that are taken into account when creating enterprises.

One of them is Ecokerama Limited Liability Company established in the Ferghana district.

During a visit to this production facility, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that our land is rich in minerals, yet a large number of goods that could be produced on their basis are imported from abroad.

For example, Andijan region is home to deposits of calcite, Samarkand hosts quartz, kaolin is in Tashkent region, Kashkadarya houses feldspars, and Ferghana province boasts dolomite. Nevertheless, about 650 thousand units of sanitation products are imported to Uzbekistan annually.

The President posed a fair question: we have plentiful opportunities, but whom do we feed? Isn’t it better to feed our own people? Every inch of land, every piece of wealth of our country should serve to increase people’s incomes, the head of state emphasized.

Ecokerama is capable of manufacturing 500 thousand units of sanitation facilities a year and hence can replace a significant portion of imports. Moreover, the Central Asian market of sanitary ware is estimated at $ 50 million. It is planned to enlarge the capacities of the enterprise and export 60 percent of its goods. Thanks to the use of entirely local raw materials and energy-saving technologies, Ecokerama products will be cheaper than their foreign counterparts.

The enterprise has cost $ 15 million, including $ 11 million of direct investment. Currently, 500 people are working here, a test batch of goods has been released.

The President stressed the need to turn the factory into a cluster, allocate open pits for it and provide it with at least a 30-year guaranteed supply of raw materials. Instructions were given to assist the enterprise in the sales of its products, in particular, by opening branded stores in the building materials markets, and to use Ecokerama sanitation goods at government-built facilities. In turn, the company was recommended to expand the range of products, open similar enterprises in other regions and employ more youth.

Here, the head of our state was briefed on investment projects intended for implementation in the Ferghana region. Thus, as a result of schemes designed in the light industry, the volume of processing of cotton fiber is anticipated to increase sharply. This year, the yarn processing level will reach 56 percent, and 71 percent next year. The $ 80 million-worth cotton fiber harvested in the region was sold previously as ordinary crude, but this year it is planned to export finished goods worth about 314 million US dollars. This figure is expected to grow to $ 540 million in 2021 and up to 1 billion in the future.