President Shavkat Mirziyoyev yesterday signed order to prepare the draft 2018 State program pursuant to Uzbekistan's Development Strategy for 2017-2021. The year 2018 has been declared the Year of Enterpreneurship, Innovative Ideas and Technologies.

Joint working group has been formed to prepare the draft which will be headed by the Advisor to the President Otabek Murodov, who will be responsible for analysis of the progress of implementation of the Strategy in 2017, reviewing shortcomings and drawbacks, studying the public and experts opinion, as well as outcomes of seminars and round tables.

The draft should be prepared by January 5, 2018, with public consultation taking place from January 5-15, including on the Internet. The draft then will be revised to include proposals and be ready by January 20.

When preparing of the draft state program the President ordered to pay particular attention to include concrete measures to achieve the following priorities:

-  state program should become a logical continuation of the policies aimed at asserting the idea: "It is not the people who should serve the state bodies, but the state bodies must serve the people";

-  program should include measures to implement the principles "the people are the only source and the author of laws", "the most important decisions should be taken through direct dialogue with the people, taking into account the public opinion";

-  planned measures should be based on the outcomes of direct dialogue with the people, and provide solutions to urgent social problems, practical steps to totally improve the state-of-affairs in all areas;

-  reforms should above all be aimed at improving people's welfare not in the far future, but within the shortest period of time and be reflected in their daily lives;

-  improvement of public services system should become a priority and focus on satisfying the people’s needs;

-  economic prosperity in the backdrop of increasing global competition should be ensured, inter alia, through transition to innovative development model, introduction of innovations, high technologies, as well as through support to progressive, modern, enterprising citizens and entrepreneurs;

-  measures should be result-oriented, have clear goals and implementation mechanisms, and are interlinked with measures taken under other programs.

The 2018 state program is expected to reflect "comprehensively though-out, substantiated organizational, legal and financial-economic mechanisms for implementing ideas and directives" contained in the President’s address to the Parliament on December 22.