TASHKENT (TCA) — Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev last week signed a decree on measures to create the Nukus Free Economic Zone (FEZ) to attract foreign investment to the country’s northwestern region of Karakalpakstan, Xinhua news agency reported with reference to the Uzbek Justice Ministry.
The decree defines the steps to transform the already existing free economic zone Nukus-Pharm (pharmacology) into larger Nukus FEZ in the administrative center of the Republic of Karakalpakstan.
The main objective of the Nukus FEZ is to attract direct foreign and domestic investments for the production of import-substituting products that are in demand on foreign markets, according to the document.
The duration of the Nukus FEZ is 30 years with the special tax and customs regimes.
The decree says that the participants of the previous Nukus-Pharm FEZ will receive the status of participants in the Nukus FEZ without undergoing additional procedures, and they will retain the previously provided tax and customs preferences.
Uzbekistan has been carrying out economic reforms for the past two years to attract foreign investment and has created 20 free economic zones across the country.
In May, President Mirziyoyev signed a decree designating the Navoi region as a free economic zone (FEZ) for innovative, high-tech, export-oriented and import-substituting industries for the period until January 1, 2030, with the possibility of further extension.
The Navoi FEZ is located in a mineral resources-rich region of Uzbekistan, equipped with advanced logistics facilities and other necessary infrastructure.
