Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Uzbekozikovkatholding will supply 35,000 tons of dry hot pepper for $ 49 million under an agreement signed with a Turkish company, chairman of the board of the holding Tokhirzhon Jalilov told Uzbek media.

Now the Uzbek side is discussing another major contract with Turkey for the supply of 200,000 tons of dry hot pepper. Previously, the company signed contracts with Russia and China for the supply of 40.300 tons of pepper for a total amount of $ 45.9 million, declared the head of the holding.

To ensure the required crop volumes, the holding purchased 15.6 tons of pepper seeds from India, Indonesia and Korea, which were sown on 15,600 hectares of land, Uzbekozikovkatholding reported.

Experts point out that up to 15–20 tons of pepper can be harvested from one hectare of land. At the same time to get one kilogram of dry pepper, you need 4–5 kilograms of fresh.

According to the State Statistics Committee, in the first nine months of 2018, Uzbekistan exported only $ 7.4 million worth pepper.

"Uzbekistan is among the top five world leaders in the export of seven types of agricultural products, including sweet cherries, apricots and beans," Tokhirzhon Jalilov said.

Since the beginning of 2018, over 230 joint Uzbek-Turkish enterprises have been created in Uzbekistan, and mutual trade has grown by over 40 percent

Turkey is one of the most important trade partners of Uzbekistan. In 2016, the mutual trade turnover between the countries reached $1.2 billion. In February 2017, Turkey and Uzbekistan signed cooperation agreement to boost economic relations.

In the January-June 2018, Turkey entered the top five foreign trade partners of Uzbekistan. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $940 million.

Over the seven months of 2018, Turkey came out on top in terms of the number of new foreign enterprises in Uzbekistan. Some 147 enterprises were established with the participation of the residents of Turkey.

There are currently about 500 companies in Uzbekistan with Turkish capital, 100 of which are representation offices. They carry out activities in the sectors of textile, food, hotel management, building materials, plastic, medication, and services. The investments of the Turkish side in the economy of Uzbekistan are about $ 1 billion.

There are 114 companies in Turkey with Uzbek capital. Only last year more than 20 enterprises with the participation of Turkey's investments were organized and 53 companies were accredited in Uzbekistan.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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