Uzbekistan to expand project portfolio in construction materials to $3.5 billion

On 20 November, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed a presentation on the development of the construction materials industry, the presidential press service reported.

Over the past eight years, 210 million sq. m of residential and non-residential space has been put into operation, along with housing for 565,000 apartments – ten times more than in previous years.

During the same period, the output of construction materials increased fourfold and is expected to reach UZS 53 trillion this year, with exports amounting to $1.1 billion. The industry has become a driver of economic growth in Surkhandarya, Syrdarya, Khorezm and Jizzakh regions.

The presentation noted that the sector still faces challenges related to product quality and compliance with standards, logistics issues and access to new markets.

Despite the presence of major domestic producers of PVC pipes, fittings, cladding stone and construction glass, these products continued to be imported in large quantities in 2024.

Key plans for the industry were also outlined. A total of 112 projects worth $2.4 billion are expected to be implemented, creating 13,500 jobs. In addition, five large strategic projects worth $110 million will be launched. A further task has been set to expand the project portfolio to $3.5 billion in the coming years.

The president stressed that these projects must be developed based on the resource potential, raw-material base and logistics capacity of each region and district.

Neighboring countries have a construction materials market worth more than $4 billion, and there is potential to increase exports of nine product types to 26 countries.

Officials were instructed to intensify efforts to access foreign markets and scale up the production of export-oriented materials by fully utilizing the potential of regions and industries.

The presentation also discussed the use of Uzbekistan’s kaolin reserves. Although the country has kaolin deposits exceeding 1 billion tons, porcelain worth millions of dollars is imported every year. To address this, 40 kaolin-processing projects worth $515 million are scheduled for implementation in 2026, and 460 specialized professionals will be trained.