American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce

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In This Issue:
Leaders hail inauguration of Central Asia's longest railway tunnel
PM Modi arrives in Uzbekistan for SCO summit
Pakistan, Uzbekistan resolve to take bilateral trade to $300m in 3 years
Lonati receives EUR 40m order from Uzbekistan-based socks company
Reminder: Invitation to Attend 2016 US-Uzbekistan Annual Business Forum in Tashkent: November 30
Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov, hailed the inauguration of the Qamchiq Tunnel in Uzbekistan, the longest in Central Asia.
The two leaders on Wednesday watched via video link the opening of the 19.2-km railway tunnel, which is part of the Angren-Pap railway line that connects capital Tashkent and Namangan, the Global Times reported.
Built by the China Railway Tunnel Group, the tunnel goes through Qurama mountains. Construction on the project began in 2013 and was completed in February this year.
"It is a major achievement of the Belt and Road Initiative that China and Uzbekistan are jointly promoting, and also a new link of friendship and cooperation connecting the peoples of both countries," Xi said.
He said that land transport connectivity is an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative and a key area in China-Uzbekistan cooperation.
"China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Uzbekistan to constantly improve the connectivity of the infrastructure in the region, thus creating more favorable environment for the development of our two countries and bringing greater benefits to both peoples," he said.
The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is a development initiative aimed at boosting trade and investment cooperation primarily through enhancing infrastructure connectivity.
Karimov said the inauguration of the railway tunnel is a major event in the economic and social development of Uzbekistan, which greatly benefits the Uzbek people. He expressed gratitude to China for its assistance.
The Chinese president arrived in Uzbekistan for a state visit on Tuesday. It is the third and final stop of Xi's three-nation tour, which has also taken him to Serbia and Poland.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Thursday to a warm welcome as he kicked off a two-day visit to attend the annual summit of the SCO with an aim to expand India's engagement with the China-dominated grouping in areas of security, defence and energy.
In a special gesture, Modi was received at the Tashkent international airport by his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoev.
In the two-day summit that begins on Thursday, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will start the process of India's accession to the grouping as a full-fledged member along with Pakistan.
However, the spotlight is on Modi's bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later in the day during which the Prime Minister is expected to seek China's support for India's membership at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) that controls access to sensitive nuclear technology.
Giving clear indications of its opposition to India's bid for entry into the atomic trading club, China had on Wednesday underlined the differences within NSG members, saying "parties are yet to see eye-to-eye on this issue".
It, however, said it will play a constructive role in the discussions.
Coinciding with the SCO summit, the two-day annual plenary of the NSG begins on Thursday in Seoul during which India's application for membership of the atomic trading club is set to be deliberated upon.
Prior to his departure from New Delhi to Tashkent, Modi said India looks forward to fruitful outcome from its engagement at the SCO summit.
India's entry into SCO as a full member will provide it an opportunity to have extended cooperation with member countries in areas of defence, security and counter-terrorism.
"I will travel to Uzbekistan for a brief visit to attend the SCO Summit and interact with leaders of SCO nations. India is glad to be a member of the SCO and looks forward to fruitful outcomes particularly in the field of economic cooperation through SCO," the Prime Minister said in a statement before leaving for Tashkent.
He said India attaches great importance to ties with Central Asia and always seeks to expand economic and people-to-people ties with the region.
Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs Sujata Mehta had on Wednesday said "The process of India's accession to the SCO will start with a signature on the base document which is called the Memorandum of Obligations".
Asked whether India will become a full member of the SCO, she said there was a schedule laid down for India to sign over 30 other documents and it will happen as the year goes by.
The SCO had set the ball rolling to make India a member of the bloc during its summit in Ufa in July last year when administrative hurdles were cleared to grant membership to India, Pakistan and Iran.
SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
India, Iran and Pakistan were admitted as observers at the 2005 Astana Summit.
The Tashkent SCO Summit in June 2010 had lifted the moratorium on new membership, paving the way for expansion of the grouping.

Pakistan and Uzbekistan have resolved to take bilateral trade to three hundred million dollars in three years.
This resolve came during a meeting between President Mamnoon Hussain and his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov in Tashkent on Friday.
Both the leaders were of the view that tripartite transit trade agreement will promote regional trade.
Referring to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Mamnoon Hussain said the project will enhance regional cooperation.
He said there are ample opportunities for Pakistan and Uzbekistan to cooperate in trade and energy sectors. He welcomed Uzbekistan's offer of providing 1000 megawatt of electricity to Pakistan. The president offered Uzbekistan to use Pakistani ports for its foreign trade.     
Mamnoon Hussain said a stable and peaceful Afghanistan is in the best interest of Pakistan and the entire region. He urged all the stakeholders to multiply their efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan.
President Mamnoon Hussain congratulated Islam Karimov for successful organizing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.   
Speaking on the occasion, the Uzbek President said that the countries of the region can overcome the menaces of extremism, terrorism, and narcotics with mutual cooperation.
He expressed the desire to cooperate with Pakistan in various sectors, including economy, trade, and defence. He said granting Pakistan full membership of SCO will auger well for regional peace, stability and prosperity.

Lonati, the world's leading manufacturer of socks machinery, has signed a EUR 40 million contract with Uztex, a leader in the production of socks and a company that claims to output 30% of Uzbekistan's textile production, for the supply of 1,024 machines.
The contract, signed in Zurich last month, is one of the largest orders in the history of the Brescia based textile machinery manufacturer. The delivery of the equipment is scheduled to take place at the end of 2016 and in the beginning of 2017. The deal also involves sock finishing lines manufactured by Tecnopea, the Lonati Group's company specializing in automated machines for ironing and packaging of socks.
"Being selected by a company like Uztex as a partner for their new project for the production of men's socks for the Russian market is a source of satisfaction and pride," said Ettore Lonati, President of the Brescia Group.  Read more here.  

Invitation to Attend

2016 U.S.-UZBEKISTAN 
ANNUAL BUSINESS FORUM
 
8.00 am - 4.00 pm

Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Keynote address by:
 
Deputy Assistant Secretary 
Michael A. Lally 
U.S. Department of Commerce

(agenda to follow)

Click here to register

PLATINUM SPONSOR
GE

Please join us at the 2016 U.S.-Uzbekistan Annual Business Forum in Tashkent, which is a signature event by the AUCC member-companies.  

The AUCC delegation to Uzbekistan will be led by the chamber's Chairperson Carolyn B. Lamm and President Steven T. Nadherny.  We are pleased to announce that Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce Michael A. Lally will travel to Uzbekistan with AUCC member-companies to give stronger boost to our efforts and further promote bilateral trade dialogue.  Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade, Elyor Ganiev, is expected to represent the Government of Uzbekistan. 

"We are delighted to take our signature event to Uzbekistan this year and have DAS Michael Lally's support and participation.  Without a doubt, AUCC is the best example of the Private-Public Partnership and the most effective conduit for the US bilateral trade with Uzbekistan. AUCC has successfully channeled our assessment and vision of the country's technological and industrial modernization through the forum and used it as a platform to declare our readiness and will to better serve the interests of the American and Uzbek peoples," said AUCC Chairperson Lamm. "The chamber sincerely hopes that our commercial aspirations will continue to be supported by the Governments of the US and Uzbekistan that have both outlined business and commerce as a pillar of their bilateral agenda.  We are grateful to DAS Michael Lally for his leadership and attention to this part of the world," added AUCC President Nadherny.   

AUCC is a private, non-governmental, 501 (c)(6) trade association that was established in 1993 in Washington, DC.  The chamber is the oldest business group in the US and the Republic of Uzbekistan that exclusively represents commercial interests of the US corporations before the governments of our two countries.  

REGISTRATION DEADLINE:

Register here to indicate your interest in the event. Registration deadline is Monday, September 26, 2016.
 
SPONSORSHIP: 

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact AUCC at [email protected] 

VISA, HOTEL AND TRANSPORTATION IN TASHKENT: 

AUCC will provide assistance with visa, hotel and transportation for AUCC members and guests. Please contact AUCC at [email protected] for details.  

APPLICATION FEE: 

Free for AUCC members (will be verified) and US Government representatives.  

$1,000 per person for all other guests and participants - The fee is non-refundable. 

Click here to make a payment and register for the event. 

CONTACT INFORMATION:aucc logo
The American-Uzbekistan
Chamber of Commerce 
1030 15th Street, N.W.,
Suite 555W 
Washington, DC 20005 
phone: 202.509.3744 
[email protected]
www.aucconline.com 

 © 2016 American - Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce. All rights reserved.