Uzbek trade house opened in France

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

Uzbekistan reached agreements on the supply of textile products worth $ 1 million, as well as the first consignment of dried fruits with a volume of 100 tons to the French market.

The documents were signed as part of a separate meeting between the delegation of Uzbekistan and representatives of business circles of France.

Issues of promotion of Uzbek agricultural and textile products were discussed at the meeting. The parties agreed to actively develop cooperation by supporting entrepreneurs at the state level.

The first trade house of Uzbekistan, UzFranceTrade, was opened in Paris, Central Asian media outlets reported on July 21.

The main task of the trade house is to promote the export of products from Uzbekistan to France and other European countries. To this end, a show room will be constantly operating with a wide range of domestic products presented.

"Today non-raw export of the republic is represented in insignificant volumes. Basically, this is due to the complexity for domestic products to enter such a demanding market as France. Our task is to make it as easy as possible by bringing our standards in line with European requirements. So we will be able to realize the trade potential and meet the demand for fruit and vegetable and textile products from our country,” said Uzbek Minister of Foreign Trade Jamshid Khodzhaev.

The diplomatic relation between France and Uzbekistan were established on March 1, 1992. A series of intergovernmental agreements forming the basis for our bilateral relations was signed during Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s visit to France in 1993. 

Based mainly on a few major contracts, the trade between the two countries has fluctuated since 2010 at around 200 million euros a year. Some 30 French businesses are present in the country.

The regional headquarters of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD, French Development Agency) is located in Tashkent. The AFD has begun a first project in Samarkand, in the field of waste management. Moreover, a MEDEF International business confederation delegation visited Tashkent in May 2017 to identify new business opportunities.