The Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Pakistan Furkat Sidikov, as part of his visit to the city of Sialkot (Punjab province), met with the owner of the Forward Group company Khawaja Masood Akhtar, the press service of the Foreign Ministry said.
Forward Group produces sports equipment, mainly balls for football. It was an official supplier of balls for the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, as well as the UEFA Champions League. It has plants for production of various types of sporting goods, such as balls for handball, volleyball, sports bags and others. The Group also produces modern medical surgical instruments.
During the meeting, Khawaja Masood Akhtar recalled that in 2018, the Uzbek-Pakistani joint venture which will produce Adidas brand balls for international football competitions and for the CIS market was established in the Andijan region.
In general, the company does not carry out investment activities in foreign countries in order to ensure the confidentiality of “know-how” and technology, as well as preserve the quality of goods at the highest level. At the same time, taking into account the economic potential of Uzbekistan, it was decided to implement the first foreign investment project of the Forward Group in our republic. To create a modern enterprise in Uzbekistan that has no analogues in the CIS and Europe, large-scale work was carried out on the construction of the Forward-TH Sports plant in the Andijan region in 2017-2019.
Production potential of the joint venture is up to 3,000 balls per month. The equipment brought to Uzbekistan is the only copy of its kind, which is considered an expensive item of trade secrets and intellectual property.
As noted in the conversation, full implementation of this project will serve to further strengthen the investment image of Uzbekistan, not only in the eyes of large Pakistani companies, but also in other countries. In particular, the production of balls for world football tournaments of UEFA, FIFA and others under the brand “Made in Uzbekistan” will demonstrate the quality and production potential of our republic.
At the end of the meeting, the Pakistani businessman stressed that in case of successful implementation of the Forward-TH Sports project in the Andijan region, his company plans to implement in Uzbekistan new large-scale investment projects in the production of sports bags and clothing for world football clubs.
