As Uzbekistan seeks to reduce its dependance on Moscow, Western countries are eager to invest in the country. German plasterboard specialist Knauf is only the latest in a group of companies banking on the country.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Bukhara is one of the most ancient cities in Central Asia.
00:05A staging post on the Great Silk Road,
00:08along with caravans laden with goods travelling from east to west.
00:15And now Bukhara is home to a modern production facility.
00:19The Knauf construction firm has a factory here,
00:22an oasis of German technology in the middle of the Uzbek desert.
00:26The plant makes gypsum plasterboard here.
00:31Our products are identical to the quality of products manufactured in Germany.
00:36We supply plasterboard to the domestic market,
00:39but we export also to neighbouring countries such as Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
00:48German business is very interested in Uzbekistan.
00:51Right now 215 German-invested enterprises are operating in the country,
00:56and investments are growing.
01:01Now we're seeing the first investments by Siemens.
01:05A major project is being launched this year that has been in the works for several years.
01:10Linde is also starting a new project.
01:16The US company Air Products started operations in Uzbekistan relatively recently, in 2019.
01:22Its facilities are located at Uzbekistan GTL, a brand new gas-to-liquids plant.
01:28Air Products is processing natural gas into industrial gas here.
01:35We occupy one third of the total area of this plant,
01:39and we are the initial stage of production of synthetic diesel, paraffin and naphtha.
01:49But Russia and China remain Uzbekistan's traditional partners.
01:53In May, Vladimir Putin paid a visit to Tashkent.
01:56An agreement was reached to build the first nuclear power plant in the region.
02:02However, Uzbekistan has recently sought to gradually reduce its dependence on Moscow,
02:07especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
02:15Our main investors, and this is a geopolitical problem, are Russia and China.
02:21Moreover, state investments and investment are mostly in the sphere of mineral extraction,
02:27while our country's objective interests require diversified investments,
02:31so that we do not depend on one or two countries.
02:35And we are also interested in creating goods with high added value.
02:41However, it is still difficult for Western companies to compete with China in this region.
02:47In the quarter between January and March this year, the volume of investment was $8.5 billion.
02:54Uzbekistan tries to maintain a balance and find common ground with all partners,
02:59be it Russia, China or Western countries.
03:10For more UN videos visit www.un.org