On his flying visit to Thuringia on June 9, 2022, the Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan, H. E. Nabijon Kasimov, met with Economics and Science Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, visited the ERFURT Education Center, LEG Thuringia, and then got to know the TITK in Rudolstadt in the afternoon.
Thuringia aims to expand bilateral contacts with Uzbekistan in the fields of economy, trade, investment, technologies, agriculture, tourism, education and science. Due to its market size, the landlocked country of 35 million inhabitants is considered one of the most promising countries in Central Asia. Comprehensive economic reforms have been taking place there since 2017.
Uzbekistan is rich in natural resources, is one of the top ten producers of gold, copper, uranium and other minerals, exports natural gas and produces oil. There are large industrial clusters in sectors such as automobile manufacturing, building materials production, electrical engineering, and pharmaceuticals. Uzbekistan is one of the largest cotton producers in the world and has a highly developed textile industry sector. This is to be significantly expanded and prepared for the requirements of the future. Currently, the focus is still entirely on cotton and silk. However, due to the large demand for resources, alternatives are already being sought. And a great deal of attention is also being paid to the development of a new gas-chemicals cluster.
"TITK's know-how and clear focus on research transfer to industry is extremely interesting and could be very helpful here," stated the ambassador in an animated conversation with Benjamin Redlingshöfer. The TITK Director expressly offered the support of the globally cooperating business-related research institute: "We are gladly prepared to exchange ideas intensively with the industry on site in Uzbekistan. Especially in the field of our solution spinning technologies for cellulose forming, we are partners in numerous international cooperations - perhaps soon also with Uzbekistan."
During the subsequent tour of the Hugo Richard Küttner Technical Center, Mr. Kasimov had Dr. Frank Meister, head of the Native Polymers and Chemical Research Department, explain the patented Lyocell spinning process and took a closer look at some fibers and filaments developed by TITK. The meeting with TITK scientist Dr. Frank-Günter Niemz caused particular joy there. He once studied in the capital Tashkent and now greeted the ambassador in his native language.
The ambassador's visit to Thuringia served to prepare for a market exploration trip by LEG to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan at the end of September and to establish economic relations with Central Asia. Uzbekistan is a cooperation country for German development cooperation. A partnership and cooperation agreement exists with the EU.
