Malaysian Eximbank allocates $15mln for SMEs development in Uzbekistan
By Kamila Aliyeva
Eximbank of Malaysia allocated $ 15 million for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Uzbekistan, Uzbek media outlets reported on September 11 citing the Uzbek embassy in Malaysia.
An agreement was signed during a business forum on the economic and investment potential of Uzbekistan.
The forum was attended by representatives of more than 20 Malaysian companies, including the leadership of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), the standards department, the Malaysian Central Bank (Negara Bank), Eximbank of Malaysia, SMITA, etc.
The Uzbek side informed the Malaysian side in detail about the favorable conditions for business in the country, the large-scale economic reforms (including foreign exchange policy), the activities of free economic zones (FEZs), the trade and economic potential of the country and its individual regions, including the Khorezm region and the Hazorasp FEZ.
SMITA President Megane Soo in her speech provided information on the activities of the association and praised the ongoing reforms in Uzbekistan to liberalize the economy and improve the business climate.
She also noted that only in 2018 SMITA has already organized two visits of representatives of Malaysian business circles to Uzbekistan to study the country's potential and discuss issues of further development of trade and economic cooperation and to consider the possibility of implementing promising investment projects on the territory of the free economic zones of the country.
Megane Soo expressed a great interest in further strengthening cooperation with Uzbekistan, in particular by organizing the export of fruits and vegetables to Malaysia and the implementation of investment projects in the agricultural, food and other sectors of the economy.
As a result of the event, the sides also reached an agreement on organizing a visit of Malaysian business circles to Uzbekistan to study the possibility of export supplies of fruit and vegetable products to Malaysia.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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