Garment design center starts operating in Namangan

On August 26, 2016, the Garment Design Center was officially opened in Namangan, marking the celebration of the 25^th anniversary of the Uzbekistan’s independence. As an investment of financial and technological resources, the centre will help establish a strong textile brand for the Namangan Region. It will also offer essential on-the-job experience, particularly for young women, thereby improving their employment opportunities and living standards.

The Garment Design Centre, proudly established through the renowned ‘Istiqlol Dizayn Markazi’ LLC and technically equipped by the jointly-conducted ‘Business Forum of Uzbekistan (PHASE-III) project with finances from the ‘Sasol’ company, is an important part of its region’s efforts to transform into a textile industry centre.

Such institutions throughout Namangan have worked industriously to create new products and brands, support and nourish the potential of young, talented entrepreneurs, and build the collective knowledge of key trends and market conditions.

The centre intends to help meet all these needs, by enhancing human resource capacity and production abilities, while bringing product quality in line with international standards. The plan is to make products not just for CIS markets but also Europe and America.

Another major objective of the centre, is that it will build the abilities of young people and women, and helping to generate employment opportunities and enhance living standards.

It’s intended that academically-gifted students completing their university degrees will work at the centre – 48 students will practice and master design and modeling skills, and 10 of those will be employed in the factory while it’s expected that others will go on to establish their own businesses.  

The students will have access to highly-advanced creative technologies, greatly facilitating design work and improving the quality of the final products, while foreign experts will also be invited to conduct thematic workshops and master-classes.

At the centre’s opening ceremony, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan Alisher Shaykhov, and UNDP Resident Representative Stefan Priesner both stressed the design centre’s importance in improving textile product quality, growing industrial production, and reaching export markets with a national brand. They also underlined the centre’s key importance in boosting young people and women’s employment and independence in the region.

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The ‘Business Forum of Uzbekistan (Phase-III)’ project is a joint initiative of UNDP and Chamber of Commerce and Industry, aiming to improve the business environment by introducing online services, improving regulatory frameworks, and developing and promoting inclusive business models. The ‘Istiqlol Dizayn Markazi’ LLC (‘Zamin Turkiston’ LLC) is a winner of the ‘Tashabbus-2011’ contest, and is indeed a respected clothing exporter in CIS countries.