Tashkent, Uzbekistan, MAY 27 — According to the results of January-April 2020, the foreign trade turnover (FTT) of Uzbekistan reached US$10.82 billion, which, compared with the same period of last year, decreased by US$1.3 billion.
Of the total FTT, exports reached US$4.41 billion (a decrease of 10.6% compared to January-April 2019 was recorded), while imports reached US$6.4 billion (a decrease of 10.8%) A passive balance of foreign trade turnover in the amount of US$1.99 billion was registered.
Uzbekistan has trade relations with more than 150 countries of the world. The largest volume of its foreign trade turnover among them was recorded with the Russian Federation (16.7%), China (16.6%), Kazakhstan (8.3%), the Republic of Korea (7.4%), Turkey (5.6%), Kyrgyzstan (2.0%) and Germany (2.0%).
Significant changes have been achieved in the structure of exports as a result of increased production of products that replaced imported goods and diversification of industrial production.
In addition, there is a strengthening of relations with neighboring countries, and a lot of work is being done to develop relations in the socio-economic, commercial, industrial and cultural spheres with these countries.
In particular, there have been significant changes in the FTT in recent years with neighboring countries, such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The presence of an active foreign trade balance with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan can be considered as a positive result in the country’s foreign trade.
The largest volume of the FTT with other states (except for neighboring countries) falls on Russia, China, the Republic of Korea and Turkey.
Among the 20 major partner countries in foreign economic activity, there is also an active foreign trade balance with six countries, in particular with Afghanistan (US$213.7 million), Kyrgyzstan (US$138.8 million), Tajikistan (US$93.7 million), Turkey (US$42.8 million), France (US$23.6 million) and Iran (US$8.0 million). With the remaining 14 countries, a passive balance of foreign trade is maintained.
One third of the FTT volume falls on the CIS countries and, in recent years, there is a tendency to increase this indicator. This, in turn, indicates the expansion of foreign economic relations with the CIS countries.
As a result of measures taken by the government of the republic to strengthen cooperation with the CIS countries and comprehensive support for foreign trade, the share of foreign trade of the CIS countries, compared to the same period of 2018, increased by 3.1% and their share in foreign trade, according to the results of January-April 2020, made up 35.1%.
The volume of foreign trade turnover of other states in January-April 2020 decreased (a decrease of 10.5%) and made up 64.9% of the total foreign trade turnover.
In January-April of the current year, the total number of exporting entities made up 3 651 units and this ensured that the volume of exports, excluding special exports, reached up to US$2.86 billion (a decrease of 22.9% compared to the same period of 2019).
In the export structure, 83.0% is occupied by goods, which mainly account for industrial goods (17.1%), mineral fuels, lubricating oils and similar materials (8.0%), food products and live animals (6.2%).
There is a difference in the direction of export of goods and services between the CIS countries and other foreign countries. So, 27.5% of exports to the CIS countries primarily accounted for services, followed by industrial goods, various finished products, as well as mineral fuel, lubricating oils and similar materials.
During the reporting period, the export of beverages, tobacco, non-food raw materials (except fuel), machinery and transport equipment, various finished products, as well as animal and vegetable oil to the CIS countries increased at the fastest pace, the decline was primarily noted in the export of mineral fuels, food and chemicals.
An analysis of the structure of exported goods and services in January-April 2020, sent to other countries, showed that, compared with January-April 2019, the volume of exports of machinery and transport equipment, raw materials of non-food, mineral fuels, lubricants and similar materials, as well as services declined.
Over the past three years, the volume of exports to the CIS countries has increased and their share in its total volume has increased from 24.2% to 30.2%. Accordingly, the share of the total exports of other foreign countries decreased from 75.8% to 69.8%.
Compared with January-April 2018-2019, our main partners in the export of goods and services in foreign trade in January-April 2020 were such countries as the Russian Federation (11.9% of total exports), China (11, 6%), Turkey (7.3%), Kazakhstan (5.3%), Afghanistan (4.9%), Kyrgyzstan (4.1%) and Tajikistan (2.8%). Their share in total exports reached 47.8%.
In January-April 2020, compared to the same period, among the seven major partner countries for the export of goods and services, China went down one position, losing its leading position in the share of exports to the Russian Federation. The geography of partner countries for the export of goods and services, compared with the same period of 2019, increased from 135 to 140 countries.
The largest volume of exported goods among major partner countries accounted for mineral fuel, lubricating oil and similar materials, industrial goods, and various finished products.
According to the results of January-April 2020, the volume of export of services made up US$749.3 million, or 17.0% of its total volume and decreased by 22.8% compared to the same period of 2019. Over the past three years, the share of services in total exports has increased due to growth. In the export of services, the largest share falls on transport services (61.6%) and travel (tourism) (27.1%).
The volume of exports of fruits and vegetables in physical terms made up more than 362.6 thousand tons and, in value terms, exceeded US$185.4 million (the rate of decline compared to the same period of 2019 was 19.1% and 42 ,4 %).
Of these, 308.8 thousand tons of vegetables were exported in the amount of US$121.0 million, as well as 26.8 thousand tons of fruits and berries in the amount of US$34.2 million (the rate of decline in value terms, compared with the same period of 2019, respectively, made up 31.9% and 43.0%).
The main export markets for fruits and vegetables are Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan.
Due to the fact that the government pays considerable attention to the development of agriculture and horticulture, the quality and volume of exported goods are increasing from year to year. So, in January-April 2020, the share of fruits and vegetables in total exports made up 4.2%.
The largest volume in value terms of export of fruits and vegetables falls on Kazakhstan (25.4% of the total volume of fruits and vegetables), which exceeds the volume of exports to the Russian Federation by 1.2 times.
The increase in textile exports can directly be seen as the result of reforms to produce finished products and create value added instead of raw cotton production. For example, according to the results of January-April 2020, textile products were exported in the amount of US$527.7 million, which accounted for 11.9% of the total export volume and, compared to January-April 2019, it increased by 2.5%.
In the structure of textile exports, the main share is cotton yarn (51.3%), as well as finished knitwear and garments (25.6%). In January-April 2020, more than 326 types of textile products were exported to 52 countries.
As a result of practical work to diversify the textile industry of the republic and stimulate the export of finished products, our country’s potential in this area is growing.
The largest share of textile exports falls on the Russian Federation (US$210.9 million – 40.0%), China (US$101.4 million – 19.2%) and Turkey (US$66.6 million – 12.6%).
During the reporting period, imports made up US$6.4 billion (a decrease in the growth rate compared to January-April 2019 was 10.8%).
The main share in its structure is occupied by machinery and transport equipment (36.3%), industrial goods (16.5%), as well as chemicals and similar products (13.3%).
An analysis of the dynamics of imports of goods and services also showed that in January-April 2020, compared with the same period of 2019, the volume of imports of goods decreased by US$632.6 million and made up US$5 884.6 million, and imports of services reached US$521.7 million.
The largest share of imports of mineral fuels, lubricating oils and similar materials (95.8%), animal and vegetable oil, fats and wax (84.9%), as well as non-food raw materials, except for fuel (80.1%) falls on countries CIS, while in other foreign countries the largest share falls on machinery and transport equipment (86.7%), chemicals and similar products (74.6%).
An analysis of the structure of imported goods and services in January-April 2020 also showed that, compared with January-April 2019, the share of imports of non-food raw materials increased from 4.6% to 5.2%, and the share of machinery and transport equipment, industrial of goods decreased from 38.6% to 36.3%, from 17.5% to 16.5%, respectively.
An analysis of service imports also showed that in January-April 2020, compared to the same period of 2018, the share in total imports decreased from 11.6% to 8.1%.
The decrease in food imports is due to sugar, sugar and honey products (by 31.8%), cereals and products from them (by 3.6%).
There is also a decrease in imports of manufactured goods, products from non-metallic minerals (by 30.4%), products from corks and wood (except furniture) (by 25.3%).
In dynamics, a stable ratio of the share of imports with the CIS countries and other foreign countries remains, which, within, is the ratio of 38.4:61.6.
At the end of the reporting period, China kept the first place among the major partner countries for imports with share of imports in the total volume of 20.1% and the Russian Federation, which, with a share of 19.9 %, is in second place.
Compared to the same period of 2019, the top six import partner countries have not changed.
In general, in January-April 2020, goods and services from 128 countries were imported to the Republic of Uzbekistan
Seven major partner countries (China, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Germany and Lithuania) in the total volume of imports have a share of 72.0%, which amounts to US$4.61 billion.
As the investment climate in the country improves and as a result of reforms implemented in this area, growth in imports of machinery and transport equipment is natural. So, taking into account large volumes of investments from China, Korea, Russia, Germany and Turkey, a high share of these countries in the volume of imports of these products remains.
The volume of imports of services in January-April 2020 made up US$521.7 million, or 8.1% of its total volume, and decreased by 21.2% compared to the same period of 2019. The main share in the import of services is travel (tourism – 64.3%) and transport services (16.0%).
According to the results of January-April 2020, the volume of imports of building materials in its total volume made up 5.1% and reached US$328.0 million.
The main share in its structure is wood and products from it (49.0%), glass and products from it (5.8%), cement (7.1%), as well as asbestos (1.8%).
In general, the volume of imports of building materials in January-April 2020, compared with 2019, decreased (a decrease of 20.1%).
The increase in imports of construction materials, compared to previous years, is directly related to large-scale reforms in the field of landscaping, in particular, housing construction, reconstruction and improvement of settlements.
The WTO partnership with the above countries can be regarded as the result of visits by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan over the past three years to 15 countries, in particular, visits and bilateral mutually beneficial agreements signed there with partner countries.
