Leading Japanese brands are considering the possibility of cooperation with Uzbekistan

During the visit to Japan, the delegation of the Association “Uztykimachiliksanoat” held meetings with the heads of major Japanese brands, in particular with the management of the company “Fast Retailing”, which owns such brands as “Uniqlo”, “J Brand”, “Comptoir des Cotonniers”, “GU”, “Princesse Tam-Tam” and “Theory”.

The negotiations discussed the development of the textile industry, the level of processing of raw cotton, the existing international certificates of domestic companies and their products, including “BCI”, types and markets of exported products, the implemented quality system at enterprises, the work of the cluster system.

Chief Executive Officer of the company Shuichi Nakajima welcomed the decision of the Cotton Campaign International Coalition to cancel the global boycott of Uzbek cotton and expressed hope that domestic companies will receive international BCI certificates as soon as possible to further consider the issue of cooperation with Uzbek producers;

The management of the company “AOKI Holdings Inc”, which owns a network of retail stores of men’s and women’s clothing under the trademark “AOKI”, “ORIHICA”, presented the production facilities of domestic companies, in particular the manufacturer of the Uzbek brand “IDEAL”. The Japanese side confirmed its readiness to work out the issue of creating together with Uzbek manufacturers of high-quality cotton fiber for the production of products under the brand “AOKI” in Uzbekistan. Representatives of the company expressed a desire to visit Uzbekistan in the third quarter of this year for a more detailed study of the issue.

The management of the company “MIZUNO Corporation”, which produces sportswear and sports accessories, presented the activities of domestic companies producing sportswear, in particular “Samarkand AFFAREL”, “Chust Textile”, the brand “SABER”. For their part, representatives of the Japanese company expressed their readiness to study the Uzbek market in more detail and visit the republic to work out promising areas of cooperation with manufacturers.

With the management of the company “YKK Corporation”, the world’s largest developer and manufacturer of zippers and accessories, the issues of production of products under the brand “YKK” were discussed. Makoto Nishizako, Vice President of YKK Corporation, welcomed the decision of the Cotton Campaign International Coalition to cancel the global boycott of Uzbek cotton and expressed readiness to establish cooperation in Uzbekistan. In addition, he noted that the company intends to take part in the textile exhibition, which will be held in October this year in Uzbekistan.

During the visit, separate meetings were also held with design companies, textile manufacturers, yarn suppliers “MN Inter-Fashion Ltd”, “A-Girls Co. Ltd”, “Hirose Shokai Co. Ltd”, “Chori Co. Ltd”, “Ecotex Co. Ltd”, “Masui Trading Co”, at which the issues of developing domestic high-quality yarn with the subsequent production of branded products for the Japanese market were discussed on the example of the production of terry products in Japan of Samarqand Daryo yarn developed and already used by Masui Trading Co.

The Uzbek delegation visited the city of Imabari where they got acquainted with the manufacturers of terry products of the companies “Fujitaka Co. Ltd”, “Tango Inc”, “Murakami Pile Co. Ltd.” under the world brand “Imabari”, as well as the company engaged in painting terry products “The Daiwa Dye Co. Ltd”. It is worth noting that the companies “Tango Inc”, “Murakami Pile Co. Ltd.” already use Uzbek yarn for the production of towels under the brand “Imabari Towel”.

The manufacturers of these companies recognized the excellent quality of Uzbek cotton and yarn and expressed their readiness to expand cooperation with domestic yarn manufacturers.