OSTIM will help Uzbekistan process rare earth metals

Ankara’s OSTIM industrial zone signed an agreement with Uzbekistan’s Technological Metals Complex to plan industrial zones for processing rare earth elements. More than 100 hectares have already been prepared for the project in Chirchiq, Akhangaran and Nurabad.

Turkish industrial zone operator OSTIM and Uzbekistan’s Technological Metals Complex (TMC) signed an agreement to plan industrial zones where rare earth elements will be processed into high-value-added products, Anadolu Agency reported.

Under the agreement, OSTIM will define the concept for the industrial zones and prepare their master plans. As part of the Future Metal Technology Parks project, infrastructure has already been prepared across more than 100 hectares in Chirchiq, Akhangaran and Nurabad. OSTIM Technopark also advised TMC on developing the concept and management model for its research park.

OSTIM Chairman of the Board Orhan Aydın said TMC would implement the strategy of turning Uzbekistan’s mineral wealth, estimated at around $3 trillion, into finished products. He said many Turkish manufacturers of electronics, defense equipment and aviation technology need rare earth elements.

Промышленная зона ОСТИМ в Анкаре

Aydın pledged to connect TMC with OSTIM’s high-tech companies. He recalled that the company’s work in Uzbekistan began with the technological industrial zone in Akhangaran, for which OSTIM prepared a feasibility study and regulatory framework. The operator was later commissioned to establish a Uzbek-Turkish industrial zone in Tashkent, with Turkish companies Hektaş and Evyap as investors.