More than 150 Tajik companies are participating in an exhibition of Tajik industrial goods that kicked off at the Uzexpocenter in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, yesterday, according to Tajikistan’s Chamber Commerce and Industry (CCI).
They have put on display their achievements in mechanical engineering, mining, light and food industries, and aluminum production at the fair that will run through October 14. The preference has been given to products of the light and food industries.
Tajikistan, in particular, brought Qairoqqum carpets, Carrera jeans, “Shohona” vodka and “Amiri” chocolate at exhibition in Tashkent.
A Tajik-Uzbek business forum has taken place on the sidelines of the exhibition. The event reportedly brought together about 500 representatives of large enterprises and companies from various regions of the two countries. More than 20 contracts and six memoranda of understanding were signed during the forum.
According to the statistical data from Uzbekistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a two-way trade between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in 2016 amounted to 197 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, a two-trade between the two countries over the first nine months of this year alone has been estimated at 178.2 million U.S. dollars.
24 enterprises with participation of Tajik capital now operate in Uzbekistan, including one company with a 100-percent Tajik capital.
Meanwhile, nine joint Tajik-Uzbek ventures now operate in Tajikistan.
Recall, a delegation of traders from Uzbekistan that came to Dushanbe in April this year to show off their wares in Tajikistan caused a minor sensation.
The fair that was held in Dushanbe from April 17 to 20 was the first of its kind since independence — a fresh signal of a potential thaw between the neighboring nations that have had a generally frosty relationship since the Soviet collapse in 1991.
The goods on display at the Poytakht-90 trading house ranged from the small — everyday products like candy, fabrics, medicine and footwear — to bigger-ticket items like buses, cars, air conditioners and refrigerators.
The fair served as a showcase for around 160 Uzbek companies. For the first three days of the event, the companies were just displaying the goods, but a frenzy of sales marked the closing day.
