Friday, 22, November, 2024

Economy

On June 22, the second meeting of the joint commission at the level of the heads of government of Uzbekistan and Russia was held in Moscow.

The Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at the joint commission meeting at the level of the heads of government of the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan said that the full-fledged participation of Uzbekistan in the EAEU would provide opportunities for the growth of the Uzbek economy.

For the first time since September last year Uzbekistan exported gold, the Statistics Committee said. Nearly US$ 1.2 billion worth of gold was exported, with the country’s international trade figure in January-May topping US$ 14.5 billion, which, recording an increase by US$ 1.7 billion compared to the same period in 2020, (or + 13.2%).

Uzbekistan gross gold and foreign exchange reserves of as of June 1 topped US$ 35.5 billion, recording US$ 1.3 billion increase over the month, the Central Bank said in a report. This is the highest figure in Uzbekistan’s entire history of gold and foreign exchange statistics.

The Ministry of Public Education of Uzbekistan and the World Bank jointly organized an International Forum involving dozens of local and international experts in education. The event participants considered the experience of European and Asian states in boosting their economies through investments in education, and critically analyzed reforms in Uzbekistan to develop modern skills and knowledge of the youth that will improve the country’s competitiveness.  

The Cabinet of Ministers issued a resolution on June 4 (No. 352) waiving a list of process equipment not produced in the country from customs duties and value added tax (VAT) when imported into the territory of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Justice said.

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan will issue 2,000- and 20,000-soum banknotes for circulation, the Central Bank said. The resolution of the Senate on issuing new banknotes has already been signed.

The Deputy Ministers of Transport of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan Abdusamat Muminov and Shoista Saidmurodzoda discussed the construction of a new railway between Panjikent (Tajikistan) and Bulungur/Jomboy (Uzbekistan), Asia-Plus reported with reference to the Tajikistan Ministry of Transport.

Until 2025, the number of state-owned enterprises in Uzbekistan will be reduced by 75%, announced the Director of the for State Assets Management Agency (SAMA) Akmalkhon Ortiqov at an international forum on May 27.

Of Uzbekistan’s public external debt (US$ 21 billion), US$ 2.3 billion was contributed for the Uzbekistan GTL plant project. The total project cost is US$ 3.6 billion.

The State Assets Management Agency of Uzbekistan (UzSAMA) in partnership with the World Bank organized an International Forum called ‘Transformation and Privatization of the State-Owned Enterprises in Uzbekistan: A New Stage of Economic Reforms’. The event participants discussed the current and planned reforms in this area. 

The public debt as of April 1 topped US$ 23.4 billion, or 40.5 percent to GDP. At a regular meeting of the Legislative Chamber, the achievement of the state budget parameters for Q1 of 2020 and 2021 was discussed, the chamber reported.

The State Assets Management Agency announced plans to sell government’s stakes of 100% in Poytakht Bank and Uzagroexportbank.

Uzbekistan today announced the winning bidder of the public-private partnerships (PPPs) for two photovoltaic solar parks in the Jizzakh and Samarkand regions. These PPPs, tendered under the World Bank Group’s Scaling Solar program, will soon add more than 400 megawatts of clean and renewable energy to the country’s energy mix.

The UAE-based Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) made the most attractive proposal in the call for bids for the 200 MW Sherabad photovoltaic plant project in the Surkhandarya region, the press service of the Ministry of Energy said.

In 4 months of this year, more than 90 percent of gasoline imported to Uzbekistan was imported from Russia and Turkmenistan.

Tashkent hosted the eighth meeting of the Uzbek-French intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation on May 10 chaired by the Deputy PM/Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov and the French Minister-Deleagte for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness Frank Riester, the MIFT said.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in collaboration with TCS Logistics (Pakistan), successfully launched the first pilot shipment to Central Asia under the Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) Convention, a customs agreement that facilitates the international transport of goods.

The State Assets Management Agency (SAMA) presented a list of the most profitable and loss-making companies in which the state owns a stake in 2020.

It is planned to resume regular direct flights between Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia. This was discussed during the visit of the Uzbek government delegation to Saudi Arabia.