Opening Remarks by Minister Gan Kim Yong at the Singapore-Uzbekistan Business Forum in Run-up to State Visit of Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev

Introduction

1. Your excellency Laziz Kudratov,

  Minister for Investments, Industry, and Trade, for the Republic of Uzbekistan,

  Your excellency Ilkhom Makhkamov,

  Minister for Transport, for the Republic of Uzbekistan,

  Ambassador Kakhramon Shakirov,

  Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Republic of Singapore,

  Mr. Lim Ming Yan, Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation,

  Distinguished speakers, guests,

  Ladies and gentlemen.

2. A warm welcome to Minister Kudratov and the Uzbekistan delegation. We are happy to host friends in Singapore and wish you a fruitful visit here.

3. Thank you to Mr. Lim, Chairman of SBF, and Ambassador Shakirov of the Uzbekistan Embassy in Singapore, for organising this Business Forum. This is a timely event, ahead of the visit by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev over the coming days.

4. The President’s visit is indicative of the warm relations between the governments of Singapore and Uzbekistan. We hope that business links will mirror this. As a start, I am pleased to be here today to open this session that will discuss economic opportunities in Uzbekistan.

Opportunities from Uzbekistan’s Economic Reforms

5. The theme of today’s Business Forum is apt. “Uzbekistan’s New Economic Era” reflects Uzbekistan’s current environment.

a. First, we see economic opportunities grow from the active and fast-paced market reforms being implemented in Uzbekistan under the leadership of President Mirziyoyev and his team. Foreign participation in the private sector is increasing. State-Owned Enterprises are undergoing privatisation, with banks and financial institutions as the next wave. These moves have contributed to accelerating Uzbekistan’s economic growth to become one of the fastest in Central Asia.

b. Second, Uzbekistan has natural qualities and characteristics for business. Its rich history and culture of trade, including as a main route along the Old Silk Road, and its marketplace at the Registan, still resonates in Uzbekistan’s vibrant economic landscape and entrepreneurial people today. This is reinforced by strong macroeconomic foundations, sustained GDP growth, a large domestic market of 34 million people comprising a young population of rising middle-class, and abundant natural resources.

c. Third, Uzbekistan’s strategic location between Europe and Asia.

6. All these present opportunities for businesses. With diversification becoming increasingly crucial amidst global challenges, it is important for companies to look for up and coming markets to operate in or do business with. Uzbekistan is one possibility to explore.

Singapore-Uzbekistan Economic and Business Relations

7. While trade between Singapore and Uzbekistan is modest, it has been growing. Uzbekistan is Singapore 2^nd largest trade partner in Central Asia. In 2021, goods traded between our countries amounted to about S$380 million. We would like to see this grow further.

8. There are several Singapore companies operating in Uzbekistan, taking opportunity of the qualities earlier mentioned.

  a. Uzbekistan’s large agricultural sector and natural mineral resources attracted Indorama Corporation. Operating there since 2010, Indorama has commercial cotton farms, a ginning facility, and a super-phosphate fertilizer manufacturing plant, one of the largest in Central Asia.

  b. Uzbekistan’s large young population presented a suitable market for the Management Development Institute of Singapore, or MDIS. Operating a university campus in Tashkent since 2007, MDIS recently expanded with a new four-storey building last year thanks to the increasing number of students.

  c. PSA International and CrimsonLogic have been working with Uzbekistan to improve digital connectivity in the Trans-Caspian trade corridor, taking opportunity of Uzbekistan’s geographical location.

Singapore-Uzbekistan Initiatives to Enhance Economic Relations

9. These are some examples of existing business links between Singapore and Uzbekistan. I welcome more to follow suit. At this Business Forum, we will see the exchange of more than twenty Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) between Singapore and Uzbekistan companies. These provide avenues to kickstart collaborations like capacity building in traditional sectors of transport and logistics and new areas like the renewable energy sector.

10. To support commercial endeavours by our business communities, we will exchange an MOU on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the governments of Uzbekistan and Singapore during President Mirziyoyev’s State Visit.

  a. The MOU will reaffirm our countries’ commitment to foster economic cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as education, food security, digitalisation, logistics, and urban planning.

Conclusion

11. Having trusted partners and good friends is invaluable. This is true in all spheres, from both the public and private sector perspectives. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, in February 2020, a Singapore delegation comprising MTI, EnterpriseSG, and SBF visited Tashkent and Samarkand.

  a. This was led by one of our Senior Ministers of State (Dr. Koh Poh Koon), with a business delegation of tourism companies who wanted to build partnerships with Uzbekistan’s hospitality industry.  Unfortunately, initiatives in this sector had to be paused once COVID struck.

  b. Notwithstanding this, Singapore and Uzbekistan maintained good relations during the COVID years, pivoting to another initiative. This was Singapore’s imports of dried fruit from Uzbekistan. With willing partners and facilitative platforms in place, we used the opportunity of a crisis to diversify our supply chain partnerships and build friendships and new links.

12. This sets a positive tone for the future of Singapore-Uzbekistan economic relations. With Uzbekistan on its way to acceding to the WTO, Uzbekistan will soon be part of the international trading system that will open up even more opportunities and links globally. Singapore supports Uzbekistan’s WTO accession.

13. In closing, I wish participants in this Business Forum meaningful discussions. This is a good platform to exchange ideas, gain insights, establish networks, and explore new partnerships. I look forward to the strengthening of economic ties between Uzbekistan and Singapore in the years to come.

Thank you.