Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- New food and beverages production facilities and coffee shops to be opened in Tashkent.

A US$ 2 million EBRD loan will finance investments into the ABNMB Group’s production of beverages and food, such as bakery, pastry and ice creams. The Group is also planning to expand its popular and well-established Bon! coffee shops, which will be well placed to meet growing demand for high-quality public catering services in the country’s largest city with a population of over 2.5 million people.

The project has received grant funding from the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund and the EBRD Small Business Impact Fund (SBIF), which has been instrumental for the project implementation. With the donor support, as part of the EBRD’s project, ABNMB Group will implement ISO 22000 standards for its bakery and confectionary operations and introduce new bakery production technology.

Uzbekistan is increasingly looking at ways of utilising its tourism potential by offering better logistics, accommodation and catering services. The EBRD is supporting this strategy by extending long-term loans to finance tourism-related infrastructure.

The Bank is also supporting the development of domestic small and medium-sized companies, particularly in the agribusiness sector, which are responsible for almost 50 percent of GDP and employ almost 80 per cent of the workforce in the country.

To date, the EBRD has invested €1.3 billion through 69 projects in the economy of Uzbekistan.