OREANDA-NEWS. December 19, 2011. East European specialist organiser ITE Group has signed a commercial partnership with Uzbekistan trade event venue, Uzexpocentre.

The agreement of intent will provide increased co-operation between the two parties to further develop the exhibition industry in Uzbekistan until 2019.

ITE and Uzexpocentre, based in the capital Tashkent, will work together to ensure international exhibitions in the city comply with international standards and continue to improve levels of service and facilities for all participants.

Uzbekistan’s key commodity production includes oil and gas, mining, mechanical engineering, cotton, agriculture, production and processing of fruit and vegetable products and gold. The government has forecast the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 8.2 per cent in 2012.

ITE worked with Uzexpocentre between 2004 and 2011, holding 136 international exhibitions featuring 6,000 companies from 47 countries. ITE Uzbekistan UFI-approved exhibitions include construction show UzBuild; oil and gas show OGU; health care show TIHE and textile machinery event CAITME.

The volume of agricultural output and related food produce in Uzbekistan is expected to rise by 5.8 per cent in 2012.

The agreement was signed by ITE Group’s executive director Edward Strachan, ITE Uzbekistan’s director general Nigora Khasanova and the director general of Uzexpocentre, Farrukh Abdurakimov.

The ITE Group has 26 offices in 14 countries, staging 200 specialist trade events around the world.

ITE Group’s Premier Expo (PE) subsidiary recently struck an agreement to acquire the exhibition assets of Ukraine-based organiser Limited Liability Company Autoexpo.