These days, Tashkent is hosting the Week of Initiatives of the International Partnership “New Uzbekistan: Progress, Innovation and Enlightenment”.

More than 450 statesmen, politicians, representatives of major business, experts, as well as representatives of a number of international organizations from more than 60 countries take part in the prestigious international conference, which will last until July 7.

As part of the Week of International Partnership Initiatives, more than 50 conferences and meetings of research and analytical centers, business communities, ministries and departments are held.

On July 4, 2023, the international conference "Ongoing reforms in the mining industry and geology in Uzbekistan: Results and prospects" was held in the Event Hall of the Uzbek Film Agency "Event Hall" in Tashkent.

The event was attended by the representatives of international and foreign organizations, business circles, as well as the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex.

During the dialogue on such topics as “Ongoing reforms in the mining industry and geology in Uzbekistan: Results and prospects”, “The current stage of development of the mining and geological system and prospects”, “On the way to transformation”, the content of the reforms carried out in recent years in the country to improve the investment climate and analysis of broad changes in the industry were reviewed in details. The conference participants received detailed answers to their questions.

In the Republic of Uzbekistan, the growth rate of mineral reserves, the development of the production of precious, non-ferrous and ferrous metals, uranium and coal are accelerating, as well as an improvement is noted in the investment climate, attractive to foreign investors, and the possibility of implementing large investment projects.

The potential of the subsoil of our country is huge. In terms of reserves of highly liquid types of minerals, including gold, silver, copper, uranium, potassium, phosphorites and kaolin, Uzbekistan is among the ten leading countries in the world.

As a result of the extraction of more than 100 tons of gold, 150 thousand tons of copper, 4 thousand tons of uranium per year, which is provided by the world's largest deposits of the Muruntau gold mine in the Navoi region, the Kalmakyr copper mine in Almalyk and other geological sites, Uzbekistan is a full participant in the world mining and metallurgical industry.

Taking the Copper Cluster initiative as an example, we can see how a mega project is being implemented to increase copper production to 500 thousand tons per year by processing 200 million tons of ore at the recently opened Yoshlik mine in Almalyk. To do this, in the next 5 years, due to large-scale exploration work, an increase in gold reserves – 730 tons and copper – 1.5 million tons should be ensured.

Deputy Chairman of the Board of Almalyk MMC JSC Abdulla Azizov: “Today's conference plays a very important and significant role in the economic development of our country. During the event, the issues of attracting investments from foreign investors were considered. Foreign partners received detailed information from local experts on ongoing projects in our country, as well as projects envisaged in the future. We talked about the investment projects being implemented at the AMMC and the upcoming work. In particular, today the plant is working on the implementation of more than 100 investment projects. The main one is the “Development of the Yoshlik I deposit”, within the framework of which a copper processing plant-3 and a new metallurgical complex are being built. The main challenge facing us today is to increase copper production to 400,000 tons by 2028 and to 500,000 tons by 2030.

In recent years, the extensive reforms have taken place, in particular, the improvement of investment legislation, changes in taxation in the mining industry, the liberalization of financial markets, and institutional changes. This, in turn, paved the way for greater investor access to capital and financial opportunities, the elimination of administrative barriers, increased transparency of investment activities and, most importantly, created an atmosphere of trust and stability.

An example of these reforms and improved conditions for investors is the reduction of taxes (royalties) on the extraction of the main types of minerals – gold, silver, copper and uranium from 15% to 7%, and on tungsten and other metals to 2.5%.

In addition, at the stage of geological exploration, subsoil users are exempt from paying land tax, and when importing modern equipment and technologies, a number of customs preferences are provided. This, in turn, increases the weight of foreign direct investment in the mining and geological industry and stimulates the broad development of the market for relevant geological services, as well as small and medium-sized businesses in this area.

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