The Association “Hunarmand” of the Republic of Uzbekistan held a press conference on “Highlights in Handicraft Development in the First Quarter of 2025 and Future Plans” at the Agency of Information and Mass Communications’ conference hall.
Senior officials of the “Hunarmand” Association, artisans, and media representatives attended the press conference.
The President’s Decree “On measures to enhance the role of small and medium-sized businesses in the economy” was adopted on March 19, 2025. According to this Decree, the number of active handicraft sectors has been reduced from 43 to 32.
As noted at the press conference, in the first quarter of 2025, 15,176 new jobs were created by developing master-apprentice traditions. Of these, 1,741 were for master artisans, and 13,436 were for apprentices.
Currently, 27,500 artisans work across 43 sectors of handicrafts nationwide. Of these, 14,300 (52%) are men, and 13,200 (48%) are women. Among all members, 5,400 (20%) are youth.
The Association granted membership fee exemptions to over 50 artisans with disabilities in the first quarter of this year.
The number of neighborhoods engaged in handicrafts has reached 7,023.
The National Catalog of Applied Arts has been created, and 261 artisans who have won awards at honorary and international exhibitions and competitions have been included in this catalog. Additionally, nearly 1,200 artisans have been registered in the tourism registry.
During the first quarter of this year, 25 artisans participated in six international festivals held abroad.
Furthermore, international platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and ETSY are conducting online sales of handicrafts in the fields of pottery, embroidery, golden sewing, wood carving, carpet weaving, and handwoven fabrics.
In the first quarter of 2025, the “Hunarmand” Association organized training courses in four districts to involve women in handicrafts and ensure their employment. A total of 67 women were taught handicrafts.
In accordance with Presidential Decree PD-4138 of the Republic of Uzbekistan, two training courses based on master-apprentice traditions were organized at two penitentiary institutions, and 36 prisoners were taught handicrafts.
In the annex to the Presidential Decree PD-16, On the state program for the implementation of the strategy “Uzbekistan — 2030” in the “year of environmental protection and green economy” under paragraph 67.1, the task of creating mechanisms for affordable and fast delivery of raw materials to artisans was set. To fulfill this task, the Association organized an “Open Dialogue” on February 12 to study the raw material and equipment demands of artisans in the textile sector, who make up 50% of the Association’s members. Based on the requests and suggestions made by the artisans, a roadmap for the Association was developed. According to this, an entrepreneur-artisan operating in the city of Margilan in the Fergana region, who expressed the need for centralized raw material supply, was provided with a total of 150 million UZS by the Association to bring natural dyes, textile materials for calligraphy, and minor mechanical pottery machines from Iran. The artisan procured more than 400 million UZS worth of raw materials and equipment for the benefit of other artisans.
In addition, to meet the demand for tools and equipment, the Association purchased 50 units of raw wool, valued at 45 million UZS (forty-five million UZS), and one wool carding machine. These were distributed for free to artisans in the Republic’s Surkhandarya, Kashkadarya, Jizzakh, Syrdarya, and Fergana regions. For reference, one wool carding machine can allow 100 artisans to wash and card wool.
At the same time, a mechanism has been established to import raw materials from foreign countries that are unavailable in Uzbekistan. According to this mechanism, the Association visits foreign markets every quarter to identify raw materials and arrange their import. Specifically, the delegation from the Association made official visits to Iran and Thailand (in January-February 2025) to identify affordable raw material markets, ensure supply, develop modern souvenir products, and collaborate in creative handicrafts. Preliminary agreements were made regarding the supply of chemicals, particularly indigo.
In particular, Rasuljon Mirzaakhmedov, the chairman of the Association “Hunarmand” of the Republic of Uzbekistan, visited the Islamic Republic of Iran with a group of Uzbek artisans. During the visit, attention was focused on establishing bilateral cooperation, organizing exhibitions for artisans in Uzbekistan and Iran, ensuring the participation of artisans in international festivals, facilitating mutual skill development, and discussing the import of raw materials and equipment from Iran to Uzbekistan.
Furthermore, Rasuljon Mirzaakhmedov, along with a group of Uzbek artisans, visited Thailand to study the country’s experience in producing creative handicraft products.
As highlighted in the press conference, the “Hunarmand” Association announced that it would hold a competition for startup projects with a total prize fund of 150 million UZS. The competition will focus on producing handicraft products from natural eco-friendly materials, manufacturing souvenir products for tourism, and implementing local and international handicraft standards. The conditions of the competition will be published on the official pages of the “Hunarmand” Association.
Additionally, for the first time, the “Hunarmand” Association has published the first issue of the “Hunarmand” magazine. The magazine will be published four times yearly in Uzbek, English, and Russian. At the end of the press conference, the speakers answered questions from journalists.