U.S. corporation to finance agricultural project in Uzbekistan

By Azernews

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

A delegation of Hosiyatli Bog ’Plus farm from the Jizzakh region, with the assistance of the Uzbek embassy in the U.S., held a meeting and established partnerships with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

The purpose of the talks in Washington is to discuss the prospects for cooperation in the creation of an intensive garden and modern greenhouse facilities in the Bakhmal district of the Jizzakh region, the press service of the Foreign Ministry said.

The project, worth $ 21 million, provides for planting over 180 hectares of apple, almond, sweet cherry seedlings on the land plot, as well as the construction of modern high-performance greenhouses, installation of cold rooms and drying equipment from leading world manufacturers.

The established production facilities will allow for the cultivation of agricultural products, their processing and export, mainly to the neighboring countries of Uzbekistan, as well as Russia.

It is planned to create up to 150 jobs, half of which will be occupied by women.

The launch of the project is scheduled for March 2019, production will reach full capacity by 2021. This will be the first project funded by OPIC after the signing in the framework of the official visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the United States in May 2018 of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the State Investment Committee of Uzbekistan and the Private Foreign Investment Corporation.

According to the Embassy of Uzbekistan, a number of other investment projects in the field of hotel business, the development of private medical services, and agriculture are currently being worked out with OPIC.

Established in 1971, the American corporation OPIC is implementing programs to support private investment in developing countries. The assets of the corporation are $ 30 billion.

President Richard Nixon established OPIC as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971. Unlike traditional aid models based on providing grants, OPIC’s model was based on private sector investment. OPIC disbursed political risk insurance and loans only to projects with sound business plans. This rigorous attention to sound business plans was designed to enable OPIC to operate as a self-sustaining agency at no cost to American taxpayers.

Now there are more than 30 development finance institutions working to catalyze private capital and provide finance in a self-sustaining, commercially-oriented manner.

Today, OPIC maintains a robust portfolio of more than $20 billion, which has doubled over this past decade. This portfolio spans more than 160 developing countries, including a large number of conflict-affected countries and a growing portfolio in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Internally, OPIC has fine-tuned its enterprise risk management system to ensure that its portfolio is well-balanced across sectors and regions. OPIC has also further streamlined the application process, reduced paperwork, and invested in technology to build a first-rate financial institution.

OPIC also redoubled its focus on business development, establishing a new business development “HUB” a new outreach program to streamline and improve business development efforts and client relations.

Diplomatic relations between the United States and Uzbekistan were established on February 19, 1992.

Thanks to active cooperation with American companies, two countries managed to increase the bilateral trade by almost two times and bring it to $332 million in January-September 2018.

Currently, more than 200 enterprises with the participation of U.S. companies are successfully operating in Uzbekistan. American capital took part in the creation of 25 enterprises since the beginning of 2018.