Uzbekistan has decided to allocate $3.05 billion to the mitigation of an environmental catastrophe in the drying Aral Sea basin.

Such a decision is based on a governmental decree released on December 29.

The document contains a list of 16 national projects worth $2.971 billion and a list of regional projects with a total cost of $80.2 million. Financing the projects will be implemented through loans recieved from international financial institutions in the amount of $2.15 billion. Uzbekistan will also play a role in financing the projects.

An agreement to allocate the funds was reached during an international conference titled 'Development of cooperation in the region of Aral Sea basin on mitigation of impact of the environmental catastrophe' held in Urgench, Uzbekistan in late October this year.

Aral Sea, located on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, in the center of the Central Asian deserts, was the world's fourth largest lake till 1960. However, over the past 40 years the sea has shrunk by almost twofold, the water level has fallen by 18 meters, the volume of water in the sea has decreased fivefold and its salinity has increased.

Saving the Aral Sea is one of the serious problems of the Central Asian region and without its solution it is difficult to talk about ensuring sustainable development in the region.

Today the Aral Sea is a devestated zone. Its consequences have directly affected the lives and health of hundreds of thousands of people, and have an adverse impact on the economic, social and environmental situation in the region.

In order to solve this problem and to prevent the catastrophic subsequences, five Central Asian countries-Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan established the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea in 1993. Since 2008, this fund has been enjoying the status of an observer under the UN General Assembly. The total contribution of the member states of the Aral Sea fund to the implementation of various projects in 2003-2010 amounted to over $2 billion.

Currently, the third program developed for 2011-2015 years is being implemented. This program was developed by Executive Committee of the fund in cooperation with UN organizations, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Union, as well as the governments of various donor countries. Some $8.5 billion has been allocated to the implementation of over 300 projects included to this program.

Local experts believe that the shoaling problem of the sea should be resolved with the active participation of international organizations, on the basis of universally recognized norms of international law and the interests of all states in the region.

They think the creation of a special international group of experts which in collaboration with the UN and its agencies would develop a comprehensive and international legal document on ways of resaving the Aral Sea.

Developing a special UN program to deal with the Aral Sea and to establish a partnership with the UN interregional center on climate change is among other options as well.

 

 

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have agreed to expand mutual supplies of finished products in the first quarter of 2015.

The agreement was made at the recent meeting of the Uzbek-Kazakh intergovernmental commission on bilateral cooperation. The meeting was held mainly to discuss the expansion of bilateral trade-economic cooperation.

During the meeting, the sides discussed different aspects of the Kazakh-Uzbek cooperation in water-energy sector, agro-industrial complex, industrial and gas sectors.

The participants of the meeting said the two countries should intensify their cooperation in the related areas. In particular, Uzbekistan can create favorable conditions to purchase the goods of famous brands, produced in the country.

The meeting was attended by Kazakh First Deputy Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev and Uzbek First Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Rustam Azimov.

Kazakhstan is among the top three trade partners of Uzbekistan with a share of 14.4 percent of a total volume of the foreign trade turnover of the country.

The trade turnover between the two countries increased by 18 percent in 2013 reaching $3.244 billion. In the first 10 months of this year, the trade turnover between them increased by 25 percent reaching $3.1 billion.

Uzbekistan mainly exports natural gas, foodstuffs and chemical products to Kazakhstan and imports ferrous and non-ferrous metals and chemical products from the country.

There are 180 enterprises with Kazakh capital in Uzbekistan, including 152 joint ventures and 28 companies.

The offices of four Kazakh firms and companies have been accredited at the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade.

 

 

New Transportation research report from Business Monitor International is now available from Fast Market Research

BMI's outlook on auto production and sales in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan remains positive, despite a slowdown in sales figures in the first eight months of 2014. Both countries boast solid macroeconomic fundamentals and both are seeing strong demand for cars from their citizens.

Turning to production first, Kazakh auto production looks set for strong growth over BMI's five-year forecast period to 2017. This reflects new production plans by carmakers Toyota Motor and Russia's AvtoVAZ and Kazakh AutoBIPEK.

Kazakh auto production looks set for strong growth over BMI's forecast period to 2018. We estimate production to have grown in 2014 by 9.5%, increasing to 15.2% in 2015. B MI believes Kazakhstan should be well positioned to continue attracting investment from auto manufacturers. Domestic sales are robust, and the country is a viable location for export production. We therefore maintain a bullish outlook on production growth over the long term.

 

Full Report Details at;

http://www.fastmr.com/prod/912345_kazakhstan_uzbekistan_autos_report_2015.aspx?afid=301

 

In June 2014, Toyota Motor Corporation started the production of the complete knock-down (CKD) of the Fortuner sports utility vehicle (SUV) at Saryarka AvtoProm (SAP)'s Kostanay plant in Kazakhstan. The move marks the beginning of production by the automaker in Central Asia. Nearly 3,000 vehicles will be manufactured annually at the plant, where SAP has recruited 100 more employees.

On the 1 October, the CEOs of 'AvtoVAZ' and 'Auto BIPEK' signed an agreement on strategic cooperation in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. AvtoVAZ will construct a factory in Kazakhstan with Azia Avto. The Lada Vesta will be produced at the site from 2016. The companies intend to produce around 120,000 units a year at the new factory.

For Uzbekistan, BMI is generally upbeat on the outlook for auto production over the forecast period. For 2014, we are targeting a 7.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in production with total units rising to 301,096.

The Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan Autos Report features the latest data and forecasts covering production, sales, imports and exports.

Business Monitor International (BMI)'s Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan Autos Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, auto associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on the automotives market in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan.

 

Key Benefits

 

* Benchmark BMI's independent automotives industry forecasts on Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan to test other views - a key input for successful budgetary and planning in the Kazakhstani, Uzbekistani automotives market.

* Target business opportunities and risks in the Kazakhstani, Uzbekistani automotives sector through our reviews of latest industry trends, regulatory changes and major deals, projects and investments in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan.

 

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