“The economic and trade cooperation between China and Uzbekistan is getting closer and closer, and there are more and more business people like us traveling between the two countries. The two countries have mutually exempted visas since June 1, which is very convenient.” Recently, when I met Askar Shkur, vice president of Uzbekistan HyperPartners Group (hereinafter referred to as HyperPartner Group), and Valikhan Sabirov, the group’s legal director, they had just flown from Tashkent, the capital of the country, to Beijing, and then took the high-speed rail to Tianjin. Ignoring the fatigue of the journey, they immediately prepared to discuss the investment in Tianjin with the relevant department heads of Dongli District. The two smiled and told reporters: “We must seize every minute to seize opportunities and promote pragmatic and win-win cooperation with Tianjin!”
The investment and construction projects in Uzbekistan are full of Tianjin elements
Uzbekistan, located in Central Asia, is a must-pass place on the ancient Silk Road. China and Uzbekistan are not only founding members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, but also have continuously achieved fruitful cooperation results in the fields of economic and trade investment, scientific and technological innovation under the “Belt and Road” initiative. “As the largest consortium in Uzbekistan, Haipo Group has been seeking deeper cooperation opportunities with China in recent years.” said Eskar Shukur.
“China’s industrial products are very popular in Uzbekistan, and China’s leading technologies such as industrial services and green and low-carbon are very valuable to us.” Walihan Sabirov introduced that now, new energy vehicles produced in China can be seen everywhere on the streets of Tashkent, and many large-scale new energy power stations in Uzbekistan use Chinese products and technologies. “The 500-megawatt photovoltaic power generation project in Namangan State invested and built by our group uses products and services from Tianjin in many aspects such as components, brackets, and EPC (engineering general contracting), which is full of Tianjin elements. Tianjin’s export-oriented economic advantages have attracted the attention of our group.” He said.
“Tianjin is a perfect match for us”
“In fact, before choosing to cooperate with Tianjin, we visited many places in China, and finally felt that Tianjin is a perfect match for us.” Eskar Shukur is familiar with Tianjin’s advantages: it is the city with the most complete industrial system in China, Beijing, Tianjin and Xiong’an can be reached in half an hour, Tianjin Binhai Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport form a well-connected aviation system, Tianjin Port is an important strategic fulcrum of the Maritime Silk Road, and it is also one of the most convenient seaports for inland countries in Central Asia…
Lv Xubo, general manager of Haipo Group China, mentioned that the group has started economic and trade exchanges with Tianjin since 2023. Tianjin’s business environment is getting better and better, the government’s support is unprecedented, and the investment promotion policies are flexible and thoughtful, which have left a deep impression on them. He said: “In recent years, more and more foreign-funded enterprises are optimistic about Tianjin, investing in Tianjin, and increasing their investment in Tianjin. In June 2024, under the “matchmaking” of the Tianjin Branch of China Export Credit Insurance Corporation, which has financing strength, we officially registered the group’s first company in China, Haipo (Tianjin) International Trade Co., Ltd., in Dongli District.”
“Governments at all levels and relevant departments in Tianjin have given great help and support to the group. The Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, the Tianjin Branch of China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation and other units took the initiative to introduce and recommend suitable preferential policies.” Eskar Shukur said, “The relevant person in charge of Dongli District brought high-quality enterprises in the district to Tashkent to exchange with us. The district has organized many docking seminars to help the group develop new business and expand its circle of friends. In terms of the problems that we urgently need to solve, such as the senior executives coming to work in China, Dongli District held a special meeting to speed up the approval process as much as possible. Binhai New Area has also taken us to visit high-quality enterprises in the area many times, especially when the group’s investment projects urgently need a lot of logistics support, the new area helped coordinate the China-Europe Express to solve the urgent problem. ”
Plan to establish the China headquarters in Tianjin this year
Currently, Haipo Group has carried out international trade, domestic trade, fixed asset investment and other businesses in China. Since the beginning of this year, the group’s exports to Uzbekistan have been about 2 million US dollars. Haipo Group has also invested in domestic LNG (liquefied natural gas) projects, hoping to bring more benefits to the people of both countries.
“Choosing Tianjin means choosing opportunities. We plan to formally establish our China headquarters in Tianjin this year, responsible for expanding our business in China, fully implementing the group’s China-Ukraine industrial development strategy, and striving for more mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation.” Walihan Sabirov said that Haipo Group will comprehensively promote cooperation with Tianjin and other Chinese cities in the fields of trade and investment. It is expected that this year’s import and export trade volume will reach US$1 billion, and fixed asset investment will reach US$30 million.
Eskar Shukur detailed: “In the future, we will increase our investment in China, especially in Tianjin. Our trade areas will expand to engineering machinery, electromechanical products, chemical products, IT products, new energy, etc. Relying on the group’s traditional advantages in trade and logistics, we will build a leading China-Ukraine trade enterprise and industrial ecological cooperation platform.”