Uzbekistan - International trade

The Uzbeki policy of self-sufficiency prevents active international trade. The country exports cotton, gold, natural gas, mineral fertilizers, ferrous metals, textiles, foods, and automobiles; it imports machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, and foods. Russia is Uzbekistan's principal trade partner, responsible for 53 percent of volume (1999). Russian imports include machinery and tools, metals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, paper and lumber, and grains; exports to Russia include raw cotton (70 percent of all Russian imports in 1999), metals, chemicals, and farm products. There were about 250 Russo-Uzbekistani joint ventures in 2000. Other major export destinations included Switzerland (10 percent), the United Kingdom (10 percent), Belgium (4 percent),

Kazakhstan (4 percent), and Tajikistan (4 percent) in 1998. Imports to Uzbekistan originated from South Korea (11 percent), Germany (8 percent), the United States (7 percent), Turkey (6 percent), and Kazakhstan (5 percent) in 1998. Uzbekistan has a large current-account deficit and the ratio of external debt to exports in 1999 was 96 percent. With a more precise account of exchange rates, however, it might be as high as 137 percent.