Large investments have already been made in this sector, such as the large textile factories in Nukus, Ellicala, Samarkand and Namangan cities. There are also constructions underway of similar businesses Andijan, Karshi, Kokand, Gurlen, Toy-Tepa and Buka.
Textile industry.
Given the importance of cotton and silk growing to the country, only a small percentage is processed actually in Uzbekistan. About 15% of cotton fiber production is processed domestically and Uzbekistan depends on textile imports to meet domestic demand. With sufficient incentives, the textile industry could certainly grow to meet domestic needs and also to export but is looking for investment to refurbish more than 40 spinning, weaving, cotton and wool businesses. This is estimated to increase the share of locally processed cotton fiber to 28-30%. It is also planned to set up new manufacturing facilities for combed spinning to expand the range of cotton yarn based products. These projects are located in the densely-populated areas of Tashkent, Andijan, and Namangan.
The silk-growing industry is also large, annual production of raw silk being around 2.500 tones. It includes more than 41,000 hectares of silk-tree plantations and more than 20 m. silk-trees. Fourteen silk-worm egg factories annually produce 650,000 boxes of silk-worm eggs, only a third of which meets world standards.
There are a number of opportunities for silk waste processing for yarn, fabric and non-woven materials production. The chrysalis are also used as a valuable forage in fish and fowl cultivation, as well as for a raw-material for perfumes. If realized, these projects should make the country self-sufficient in high-quality cotton fabrics, including shirt fabrics, acrylic yarn for knitting and silk enterprises. Potential export potential growth could reach $500 m.