ADB could become key partner for Uzbekistan – President Islam Karimov

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) could become for Uzbekistan a key partner in implementing the programmes of structural reforms and diversification of the economy that are extremely important for the country, Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov said at the official opening session of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the ADB in Tashkent on 3 May.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Uzbek leader said Uzbekistan highly values the growing cooperation with the Asian Development Bank and considers it as the most important strategic partner which for over the last years has become a leading international financial institution both by the size of credit portfolio and in the framework of regional cooperation in Central Asia.

Since 1996, Uzbekistan has completed 11 projects worth over US$520 million out of allocated US$1.2 billion of credit resources. The country is continuing to implement other 15 projects worth over US$650 million.

"We note with a great appreciation that nowadays our cooperation is considerably expanding and reaching a new level. During the ADB Annual meeting in Tashkent we have signed additional four loan agreements worth in total more than US$1.15 billion, i.e. the ADB in fact has doubled its credit portfolio in our country," Islam Karimov said.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov said: "Today we are fully convinced that such significant components of our cooperation as reliability and commitment to partnership, and certainly, a purposeful utilization by Uzbekistan of the provided funds shall be ensured furthermore."

The ADB could become for Uzbekistan a key partner in implementing the programs of structural reforms and diversification of the economy that are extremely important for the country, President Karimov emphasized.

"These programmes are aimed at the deep processing of rich natural resources, mineral, hydrocarbon and agricultural raw materials to change the quality and increase the share of the high-technological and competitive goods in the export structure. We mean implementation of the projects of modernization, technical and technological re-equipment of the leading branches of Uzbekistan's economy, including mining, oil and gas, chemical and textile industries".

The most important priorities of Uzbekistan's modernization strategy include development of modern transport communications system, implementation of such projects as construction of the Uzbek national highway, establishment of the inter-modal logistics center at the Navoi Airport, extensive renewal of the rolling-stock and extension of the railway network, Uzbek leader said.

President Islam Karimov said: "We highly appreciate the fact that during the ADB Annual Meeting we have signed the agreement on allocating the loan worth US$600 million for the purposes of construction and modernization of the Uzbek national highway."

According to the Uzbek leader, another direction of cooperation is support and further development of private businesses and non-state sector of the economy. If in 1991 the non-state sector made up just less than 3% of the Uzbek economy, then today its share in the GDP is over 80%, and in the certain leading branches of economy, i.e. agriculture, construction, telecommunications, retail and services, the private form of ownership equals to about 100%.

"Along with this, we see a large prospect in further expanding and enhancing the positions of the private sector of economy, in particular, in such sectors as electric energy, chemical, light, food, electro-technical and machine-building industry, in the banking and financial services, and other leading branches of the economy," the Uzbek President Islam Karimov underlined.

“Uzbekistan and ADB should develop cooperation to further reform and strengthen material resources of agriculture and related branches. One should not forget that in Uzbekistan more than 95% of agricultural products are cultivated on irrigated lands. Therefore introduction of the latest water-saving technologies is vitally significant given growing shortage of water resources in the region.”

Islam Karimov said: “In such conditions we will have to accomplish the large-scale works to radically improve and reclaim irrigated lands that suffer from massive salinization and here we see a prospective direction of cooperation with the ADB.”

"The support of the country's potential of secondary, professional-technical and higher education, the sphere of healthcare, motherhood and childhood, providing them with cutting-edge equipment, computer and information-communications technology, implementation of the advanced methods of diagnostics and treatment in healthcare, - all these aspects stand as very important directions of cooperation, where we feel a huge need," Islam Karimov said.

"We appreciate that the ADB takes an active part in developing financial and banking system of Uzbekistan, including projects of improvement of public finances, allocation of credit lines for commercial banks and non-banking credit institutions, and participating in the capital of the rapidly developing private Uzbek banks. We are convinced that in this sphere of cooperation we have good prospects, too."