By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
Daewoo International, one of the nation’s leading global trading companies, said Sunday that it has recently decided to invest about $47.5 million (roughly 45.4 billion won) to take over Bukharatex, a top-class yarn and fabrics firm in Uzbekistan.
A company spokesman said the board of directors gave the go-ahead to the takeover after the company’s President and CEO, Kang Young-won, reached an agreement in principle with Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who visited Seoul late last month.
Daewoo International has already been operating two textile companies in Uzbekistan ― Daewoo Textile Company (DTC) and Daewoo Textile Fergana (DTF).
``We made the latest decision after a feasibility study at the request of the Uzbek government, which was satisfied by the successful operation of DTC and DTF and asked for additional investment,’’ the spokesman said.
Daewoo International will use the $47.5 million to set up Daewoo Textile Bukhara (DTB) soon and expand production facilities there. The company expects that the annual sales could exceed $35 million.
``Along with DTC and DTF, the new firm will allow Daewoo International to become the unrivaled leader of the textile industry in the Central Asian country,’’ another company official said.
Daewoo International has been engaged in various resource development projects overseas in Myanmar, Azerbaijan and Canada as well as Uzbekistan.
Last month, the general trading company signed a deal with Uzbekistan’s state-run energy firm UNG to develop two mines in the northwestern region of the country.