The Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan informs that Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan free trade zone will be established in Shavat district of Khorezm region, which envisages organisation of infrastructure for storage, sorting, marketing, transportation of goods and other services.
The relevant decree was signed by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The interstate agreement signed in October 2022 served as a basis for the implementation of this project.
According to the joint project, the new trade zone:
will provide services for receiving, storing and sorting products based on modern technologies;
customs, tax, certification, phytosanitary, veterinary, transport services, banking and currency exchanges, mobile communications, as well as medical, hotel, motor transport and other services for customers will be established on the basis of the "Single Window" and interactive mechanisms, with the study of existing infrastructure and opportunities;
sales of products manufactured exclusively in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan will be organised;
there will be a customs regime "free customs zone" in which retail trade operations will be allowed;
buildings and structures in the trade zone will be leased to businesses on the basis of electronic online auctions.
Experts told Daryo that the project is expected to be completed in the next two years, which will allow the development of mutual trade based on the complementarity of the two countries' economies. In addition, the joint project will reduce logistics costs and create new jobs.
A similar joint project near the borders of Lebap region of Turkmenistan and Bukhara region of Uzbekistan is under development.
For Turkmenistan, the border with Uzbekistan is the longest among the neighbouring countries - about 1,700km, along which the Dashoguz-Shavat and Kunya-Urgench-Khodzheyli checkpoints are also located.
Between 2017 and 2023, there has been a more than five-fold increase in mutual trade, which totalled $1.094bn at the end of last year. More than 46,000 citizens of Turkmenistan visited Uzbekistan last year for commercial purposes, thus topping the list of foreign business tourists.
Eziz Boyarov
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