A meeting was held at the «Uzcharmsanoat» association with the head of the Italian company for foreign trade and contracts. The Italian side plans to expand bilateral cooperation with Uzbekistan in the leather and footwear industry.

For reference: Italy is among the major importers of Uzbek leather. Last year alone, Uzbekistan supplied 58 million square decimeters of products to the Italian leather industry.

Meanwhile, Italy intends to increase the volume of imports. This was discussed at the meeting. They also discussed expanding the presence of Uzbek leather products in European markets.

In this regard, Italy can play a key role to serve as a kind of bridge for the supply of products. To implement the plans, the partners plan to visit several enterprises in Tashkent and Surkhandarya regions and get acquainted with production technologies, product quality and working conditions on the spot. The Italian side is particularly interested in leather for accessories, automotive and furniture industries.

Businessmen were informed in detail about the reforms in the industry and the updated legislative framework regulating this industry, about the conditions created by the state to improve the business climate in the country, including tax incentives and customs preferences.

The parties planned to work out in detail the options for creating a leather processing joint venture with the participation of Italian capital.

Another area of cooperation is investment in the country's human resources potential. While a meeting,

the parties discussed in detail the possibility of attracting specialists from Italy to Uzbekistan to exchange experience in the leather and footwear sectors.

Separately, the parties considered the possibility of developing special programs for the training of designers for the industry. In this regard, work is also underway to establish cooperation with the Tashkent Institute of Textile and Light Industry and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Design, named after Kamoliddin Bekhzod.

Also, the Italian side will provide master classes from Italian designers during UZCHARM STYLE 2023 – the 1st International Competition for Young Designers of Shoes, Accessories, Leather and Fur products, the final of which will be held in September 2023.