Cotton also know as ‘white gold’ is a significant export product of Turkmenistan and is a demanded raw material for dozens of modern companies of the dynamically developing textile industry in the country. It is planned to produce 1,050,000 tons of cotton in Turkmenistan in 2017. It is currently harvest time in the country.

Turkmenistan plans to harvest 1,05 million tons of cotton, particularly in Akhal velayat – 207,000 tons, in Dashoguz velayat – 230,000 tons, in Lebap velayat – 300, 000 tons, in Mary velayat – 313 ,000 tons.

The total area of land, allotted for cotton is 545,000 hectares. In spring, they were sowed with medium- and finely-fibred varieties of cotton – “133”, “Yoloten-7”, “Dashoguz-120”, “Serdar”, “C-4727”, “Yoloten-39”, “Yoloten-14”, etc. For the new harvest of cotton, there are prepared 152 commodity points and 38 country’s cotton gin plants.

The plan calls for increasing the number of employees in the industry from almost 30,000 in 2013 to 36,000 in 2020. This expansion is expected to allow the processing of nearly 230,000 tons of cotton per year and to expand annual export revenues by $350 million.

Although Turkmenistan lies along the eastern coastline of the Caspian Sea, the country’s four inner-most regions are where cotton growing is most prominent. Mary and Lebap regions produce about 313,000 and 300,000 tons of cotton, respectively. The south-central Akhal region, in which the country’s capital of Ashgabat is located, produced about 207,000 tons, while Dashoguz brings in around 230,000.

The country supplies cotton to China, Russia, the UK, South Korea, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Singapore, Ukraine and Baltic countries. Cotton products are sold through auctions in Turkmenistan’s commodity and raw materials exchange.

Turkmenistan despite relative decline of cotton production ranks ninth largest cotton producer after China, India, the United States, Pakistan, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Turkey and Australia.

The government under the State Program for development of the textile industry for 2011-2020, by 2020 plans to increase investments in the textile industry to $2 billion. This will include both upgrading existing facilities and building new ones. Over 20 textile firms with predominantly Turkish partners currently operate in the country.

The Cotton products of Turkmenistan and World Market, 7th International Trade Fair of Cotton Products and International Conference will be held with participation of the Turkmen Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The event will be held on November 25-26 in Ashgabat.