The head of the State Investment Committee of the Republic, Azim Ahmedkhadzhayev announced it at the first Uzbek-Korean meeting on economic cooperation issues on February 13 announced that Uzbekistan and South Korea plan to launch a modern textile techno park in Tashkent in September.

The new facility will be created on the territory of the Tashkent Institute of Textile and Light Industry and the project is financed through grant funds provided within official development assistance program of the Korean government.

About $15 million will be spent on construction, acquisition and installation of technological equipment, as well as training of personnel. Financed by the official development assistance program of the Korean Government, according to a report in a top Azeri news portal. Installation of the equipment is likely to begin in March.

The main objective of the techno park construction is introduction of the brand-new South Korean innovations and conduction of joint research works in the sphere of material science, dyeing and finishing production, fabric design as well as development of alternative energy sources.

A modern experimental and scientific laboratory will also be located nearby. It will be equipped with the latest samples of the leading weaving, knitting, dyeing and finishing equipment and sewing equipment.

It is expected that the installation of the equipment will begin in March 2018. Construction and installation work will be completed by mid-2018 and the Techno Park will be commissioned in September 2018.

The park will have high-tech three- and five-storey buildings with offices, pilot production facilities, training classes, conference rooms, exhibition spaces, laboratories, greenhouses and other facilities.

The Uzbek textile industry is mainly focused on cotton, silk and wool. The world’s fifth-largest cotton exporter grows about 3.5 million tons of raw cotton and produces 1.1 million tonnes of cotton fibre.

The establishment of the Techno Park is expected to raise the Uzbek light industry to a qualitatively new level of development and improve the training system for the sector, which is considered to be one of the most dynamic and socially important sectors and ranks high among export-oriented industries of the country’s economy.