Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The National Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan (NBU) and the Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank of China) signed an agreement to raise a new credit line in the amount of 2 billion yuan.

The document was signed on 19 May as part of the visit of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the People's Republic of China.

The main advantage of this credit line is the ability to access long-term financial resources in Chinese yuan at attractive interest rates in the context of high volatility in the cost of financing in the international interbank borrowing market.

The credit line of Eximbank of China will be used to finance investment projects for small and medium-sized businesses in the Republic of Uzbekistan, implemented with the participation of leading Chinese manufacturers and suppliers. The total cost of these projects is 2.8 billion yuan, in such areas as information technology, telecommunications, alternative energy, electrical engineering, textiles, transportation, industrial production and others.

As a result of the implementation of the above projects, over 1,500 new jobs will be created and export-oriented products with high added value will be produced in the amount of US$150 million.

Over the years of fruitful cooperation, the National Bank has attracted 28 credit lines from Eximbank of China, through which 27 investment and infrastructure projects have been financed, as well as over 200 SME projects for a total of US$1.5 billion.