A couple of decades ago, it was difficult to find leather shoes in Uzbekistan. In the near future however, it is likely that European consumers will wear shoes Made in Uzbekistan. This is the ambition of Farkhod Nurmukhamedov, Deputy Chairman of Uzcharmsanoat, the Leather, Footwear and fur producers of Uzbekistan Association and of its members. The association was re-organized in 2018 to stimulate the development of the leather, footwear and fur industry which had been identified by the government as a high potential one. The association provides practical assistance to industry enterprises in solving various issues and problems in the production and export process.

Since 2018, the government has provided the industry support in the form of tax and customs exemptions, as well as preferential loans and vocational education programmes. As a result of technological modernization and localization in recent years, the industry has been widely developed and should develop further thanks to a five years strategy implemented with the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade, called “Program for the Development and Implementation of Economic Reforms in the Leather and Footwear Industry for 2022-2026”. The program determines the directions of reforming the industry in 2022-2026, and encourages an increase in the range of products. It also covers the issues of expanding industrial cooperation, investment, export and digitalization of the industry.

Specific goals include to widen access to foreign markets, especially to Europe, and to make full use of the GSP + system of preferences, which Uzbekistan joined this year as well as reducing the cost of manufactured products, creating equal and competitive conditions for all manufacturers in product markets, creating national brands of local enterprises and supporting these national brands in foreign market; and last but not least improving the local training system.

Regarding the latter, tasks are set to create a modern training and production laboratory at the Tashkent Institute of Textile and Light Industry, to improve the skills of specialists abroad, and train mid-level workers.

However, the priorities have been to establish small production clusters and to increase employment: 234 projects in about 16 locations that should create more than 11,100 new employments have been established so far.

Also, according to experts’ estimates, the market for women and children shoes is expected to grow by an average of 6.5 per year. At the same time, considering that women buy  4 to 6 pairs per year,

“This industry occupies an important place in the production of consumer goods and represents about 1.1 per cent of the country’s GDP,” explains Numurkhamedov, speaking from one of APLF Dubai’s most stunning booths, all white and blue reminding of the country’s symbolic colors.A couple of decades ago, it was difficult to find leather shoes in Uzbekistan. In the near future however, it is likely that European consumers will wear shoes Made in Uzbekistan. This is the ambition of Farkhod Nurmukhamedov, Deputy Chairman of Uzcharmsanoat, the Leather, Footwear and fur producers of Uzbekistan Association and of its members. The association was re-organized in 2018 to stimulate the development of the leather, footwear and fur industry which had been identified by the government as a high potential one. The association provides practical assistance to industry enterprises in solving various issues and problems in the production and export process.