Azernews.Az

Singapore's Indorama Industry Pte ltd put into operation the second stage of the textile production in the Ferghana region of Uzbekistan, a source at the O'zbekyengilsanoat State Joint Stock Company (Uzbek Light Industry) told Trend.

The first stage of textile production for cotton fiber processing worth about $30 million was commissioned by Indorama in September 2011.

The source said that after the second phase worth $ 31 million was commissioned, the cotton fiber processing enterprise's capacity increased by 5,000 tons to 15,000 tons of cotton fiber per year.

The project was financed through direct investments worth $25 million of the Singapore-based company and loans from foreign banks involved in the project financing.

The Swiss company Rieter supplied equipment to the textile complex. The project implementation ensured increased capacity of processing cotton fiber up to 10,000 tons per year.

Indorama Kokand Textail joint venture was established with a registered capital of $20 million, where Indorama has a 75 percent stake, the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity - a 25 percent stake.

The Uzbek government provided the Joint Venture with customs exemptions on imported technological equipment, tooling, spare parts, accessories and building materials until 2016.

According to the industrial development program, Uzbek Light Industry Public Joint Stock Company will implement 106 investment projects worth $1.678 billion in 2011-2015.

Uzbekistan is the sixth world producer and the third largest exporter of cotton fiber. An average of 3.5-3.7 million tons of raw cotton is harvested and 1-1.2 million tons of cotton fiber produced in the country annually. More than 75 percent of produced cotton fiber is exported.