Uzbekistan to extend benefits for imports of coconut and palm oil

Producers of confectionery, beverages and juices will be granted privileges when importing palm and coconut oil. This was announced by the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan Davron Vakhabov after a meeting with President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, dedicated to the current situation in the food industry and plans for 2025.

The head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry noted that in 2022, entrepreneurs of this industry requested to exempt from duties imports of palm and coconut oil, as well as other raw materials not produced in the country, from Indonesia and Malaysia. The President then approved these exemptions, which expire on January 1, 2025, but in order to support the producers, at the meeting he approved a proposal to extend the exemptions for another two years.

According to Vakhabov, there are currently 962 enterprises in the country that produce 189,000 tons of confectionery products. In recent years, exports of these products have quadrupled, reaching $13m. Thanks to direct imports of raw materials, packaging materials and labels, the cost of production has dropped by 20%, which has significantly increased the competitiveness of Uzbek products.

As previously reported by the Statistics Agency of the Republic, Uzbekistan doubled exports of oilseeds, vegetable oils and fats in the first 10 months of 2024, while supplies of cereals and processed products decreased.

Tags: palm oil, Uzbekistan, coconut oil