BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 13. Uzbekistan has created a new "Karakul" Free Economic Zone (FEZ) in the Bukhara region,Trend reports via the Uzbek Ministry of Energy.
The gas chemical complex based on MTO technology (GCC MTO), currently under construction at the location of the FEZ, will form the core of an industrial cluster, where high-tech industries and production capacity will be developed.
The GCC MTO will become both the anchor industrial producer of the Karakul FEZ, and Uzbekistan’s largest producer of polymer products based on MTO (Methanol to Olefin) technology, based on the processing of methane natural gas.
The creation of "Karakul" FEZ will support the strategic course of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to use the natural resources of Uzbekistan to produce value-added goods.
The plant will produce up to 730,000 tons of polymer products per year including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP), plus ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) - which are new to the Uzbek market. This facility is one of the very few plants in the world to produce such products from methane.
“Uzbekistan is fully focused on expanding its capacity for the deep processing of natural gas, and to further diversify the country’s economy. The MTO Gas Chemical Complex in Bukhara is an example to the whole world in this regard, and we are also delighted to use the complex as a hub in the new Karakul Free Economic Zone. When completed the plant will support the strategic goal of President Mirziyoyev to produce high value-added goods from our country’s natural resources and optimize momentum to creating even more jobs via development of a wider industrial cluster,” First Deputy Minister of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Azim Akhmedkhadjaev said.
Several large enterprises - producers of polymer products in Uzbekistan - have already expressed interest in locating facilities within the FEZ. Among them are the largest carpet manufacturers SAG and UrGaz, Vero Group pipe manufacturer and Mergantex textile manufacturer.
Various tax, financial and regulatory benefits are available to companies which establish facilities in the Karakul FEZ, enabling manufacturers to build new enterprises more rapidly and start supplying consumer goods to the market.
Over the next 10 years, the Karakul FEZ and GCC MTO will become a hub of rapid production development in the Karakul district of the Bukhara region, where it is expected to form additional industrial, business, transport, logistics and social infrastructure.