TASHKENT (TCA) — The President of Uzbekistan has approved the decision to create a free economic zone “Sport” in the Tashkent region. It will represent an industrial cluster with dozens of enterprises specializing in the production of sportswear and sports equipment, with the participation of the world’s leading manufacturers, the Jahon information agency reported.

The FEZ “Sport” will be created before June 30, 2018. It is planned to attract such well-known brands as Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Li Ning, Eleiko, Janssen-Fritsen, Gymnova, and others. Negotiations with foreign partners will be conducted by the State Committee for Investments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, as well as the National Project Management Agency and the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports.

To date, the sports goods industry in Uzbekistan is in its infancy. Basically, these products are produced by enterprises of the automobile industry. So, the joint Uzbek-Korean enterprise Uz-Tong Hong Co., which produces seats for cars, in parallel produces basketball, football, volleyball, tennis and other kinds of balls. It also produces many types of sports equipment — trampolines, tennis and badminton racquets, and sports shoes.

At the same time, most of the market is occupied by cheap Chinese products that are not always of the appropriate quality. Therefore, one of the immediate tasks of the new free economic zone is the saturation of the domestic market and the ousting of Chinese imports first from the country and then from the region.

ASTANA (TCA) — The Embassy of Kazakhstan together with Kazakh Invest national company for investment support and promotion organized a visit of Kazakh agrarian entrepreneurs to the Netherlands on March 11-15. During the visit, Kazakh businessmen visited large high-tech agricultural enterprises and research institutes, Kazakh Invest reported.

The results of the trip and the prospects for expanding cooperation were discussed at the Round Table ‘High-Tech Innovation in Agriculture’. During the event investment opportunities and the potential of Kazakhstan in the agricultural sector were presented to 60 Dutch businessmen. Manager of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Assel Aitkhozhina underlined the attractive business climate in Kazakhstan, as well as the EBRD’s opportunities to lend innovative agricultural projects in Kazakhstan. Within the framework of a special session, Kazakh entrepreneurs held business negotiations with their potential Dutch partners in the B2B format.

According to the Director of LLP ‘Akseleu’ Serik Malaev: “The visit to the Netherlands has allowed taking a new look at the latest trends and technologies in the field of agriculture. Undoubtedly, we see great opportunities for business cooperation with Dutch companies in terms of introducing an innovative and modern approach to agriculture.”

One of the promising results of the visit is the creation of an agricultural park in Kazakhstan with the participation of the world’s leading research center in the Netherlands, the University of Wageningen. The creation of the park can become a base for the development of a high-tech and profitable cluster.

As Peter Smits, expert on agro-parks and food clusters at the University of Wageningen, noted: “Kazakhstan has great agricultural potential. In our turn, the Netherlands has the necessary technology to create integrated food clusters. The combination of these two factors allows us to talk about the high relevance and cost-effectiveness of cooperation.”

The Netherlands is the world’s second largest exporter of agricultural products after the United States and annually exports agricultural products worth over 80 billion euros, which is about 10% of the country’s GDP.

The visit was also organized with the support of the Kazakhstan-Netherlands Business Council represented by the Confederation of Industrialists and Employers of the Netherlands VNO-NCW, Royal Dutch Shell and ERG.

ASTANA (TCA) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing post-privatisation support to Mangistau Regional Distribution Company (MREK), a major power utility in western Kazakhstan, the Bank said on March 16.

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TASHKENT (TCA) — A delegation from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) Board of Directors will visit Uzbekistan from 19 to 23 March. The visit, which is part of preparations for the Bank’s medium-term strategy for the country, will help the Directors to assess reforms taking place in Central Asia’s most populated country, the EBRD said.

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