Local manufacturers and mining companies produce a variety of chemical products, mineral ores, and building materials.
Agricultural enterprises produce poultry and dairy products, karakul sheep, and fish.
Navoi enterprises often operate well below capacity and local officials seek foreign investment to modernize the region's economy. The Navoi Region currently has an ethnically diverse population of 7.6 million. Navoi is located on Central Asia's ancient silk road, along the Zerafshan River, between Samarkand and Bukhara. Ninety percent of the region's 110,000 square kilometer territory is desert. Seventy-five percent of Kizilkum's output is sold in Uzbekistan, with the remaining 25 percent exported to Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran.