What did Tashkent offer Ufa?

On July 22, an online conference was held where the participants discussed trade and economic cooperation between the cities of Ufa and Tashkent.

The deputy head of Ufa City Administration, business sheriff of the city Damir Galiullin, presented the capital of Bashkortostan. Also representing Ufa, the President of the Association of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Bashkortostan Rustem Fatkhullin, the first secretary of the representative office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in Ufa Oleg Lebedintsev took part in the conference.

Representing the Republic of Uzbekistan and the city of Tashkent, the Consul General of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the city of Kazan Fariddin Nasriev, deputy khokim - head of the investment and foreign trade department of the city of Tashkent Sharof Rakhmanov, head of the chamber of commerce and industry in the city of Tashkent, first deputy head of the Agency for Labor Migration of the Republic Uzbekistan, as well as representatives of business circles and business associations took part in the conference.

Today's conference was organized in continuation of the development of cooperation between the two republics and their capitals Ufa and Tashkent after a recent visit to Uzbekistan in May of an official delegation of our republic led by the Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov.

- Our peoples are united by a common history, culture, religion, similarity of national languages and economic interests, - said Damir Galiullin, welcoming the conference participants. – In recent years, we have achieved great results, expanded cooperation in many areas. To date, the Republic of Uzbekistan has become our reliable ally and main trading partner in Central Asia.

Bashkortostan supplies products of the chemical industry, rubber, wood and pulp and paper products, metals and metal products, engineering products, food products and raw materials. Uzbekistan also imports metals and products, engineering products, foodstuffs, as well as textiles and mineral products. At the end of last year, the volume of foreign trade turnover amounted to more than 8.4 billion rubles.

- In the regions of Uzbekistan, Bashkortostan is well known not only in business circles and the business community, but also in terms of tourism. Ufa is a beautiful city and the nature of Bashkortostan is unique, - said Fariddin Nasriev. – Russia is a strategic partner of Uzbekistan. Relations are developing in all spheres of activity, including in trade, economic and investment areas, cultural and educational. Despite the post-pandemic period, last year our trade turnover not only did not decrease, but grew by more than 16 percent.

During the conference, the implementation of projects in the areas of industrial production, tourism and public catering, the possibility of Ufa enterprises entering the Uzbekistan market, mechanisms for attracting labor migrants to Bashkortostan were discussed. Tashkent was invited to consider the possibility of opening a textile production in Ufa.

- In Bashkortostan and Ufa, there are all prerequisites for the development of the textile industry. At the same time, the consumer market of the republic and neighboring regions is huge. The total population is about 24.4 million people. Therefore, I want to offer you a point of localization of textile production or a logistics center in Ufa. In turn, we are ready to help select a site and offer government support measures, - Damir Galiullin emphasized.

Entrepreneurs from Tashkent and Ufa were able to ask questions and express their wishes for cooperation and establishing working contacts. Thus, manufacturers of drinking water expressed their desire to export to Ufa, including with the addition of gold, chocolates with local dried fruits, children's clothing and other goods. In turn, Ufa entrepreneurs were able to get an answer from a representative of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tashkent on the mechanisms for entering enterprises into the Uzbek market.

As a result of the meeting, it was decided to jointly organize further business missions and b2b meetings in industries from light industry to mechanical engineering and petrochemistry.

- The main tasks are to find common ground in the sale of products and the implementation of joint projects, as well as to attract investment to the territory of Ufa, - said Damir Galiullin.