Illustrative image. Photo: pole.rf.
Egyptian company Nile Sugar will invest about $450 million in a project to grow sugar beets and build a processing plant in Uzbekistan’s Jizzakh Region. Implementation is expected to begin in March of this year. Laziz Kudratov, head of the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade (MIIT) of the Central Asian republic, spoke about the foreign partners’ plans, Gazeta.uz reported, citing the Uzbekistan 24 TV channel.
According to the official, once commissioned, the sugar plant will produce up to 200,000 tons of sugar per year.
Uzbekistan’s Minister of Agriculture, Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov, emphasized that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has instructed that the project’s implementation be accelerated and placed under special oversight. All necessary documents have been prepared, land plots have been allocated, and the Egyptian company’s investments are already lined up, he said.
In 2024, the Agriculture Ministry announced plans to develop cooperation with foreign partners in sugar production. As part of this effort, land plots totaling 50,000 hectares were selected in the Gallaaral and Farish districts of Jizzakh Region for sugar beet cultivation, along with 170 hectares for construction of a processing facility.
Recently, the MIIT press service reported on talks between Minister Kudratov and Nile Sugar CEO Emad Farid. The meeting resulted in the signing of a protocol on the implementation of joint projects. The document provides for clarifying specific parameters, financing terms, and coordination of next steps to expand practical cooperation.
The initiative is seen as timely because many food industry producers are forced to import sugar into the country at high prices. Since 2021, an excise tax of 20 percent has been imposed on this product, and the zero customs duty previously in place was also abolished. Last year, Mirziyoyev ordered the removal of the excise tax on imported white sugar, but the customs duty remains in effect.
At the same time, domestic sugar production is declining. According to the National Statistics Committee, 165,500 tons were produced in the first half of 2025, compared with 227,800 tons in the same period of 2024 and 332,600 tons in the first six months of 2023.
Nile Sugar is part of the Orascom Group holding and is the largest sugar producer in Egypt.
