Finnish delegation headed by Mr. M. Keynenen, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland was hosted by the leadership of the National Agency for Project Management under the President of Uzbekistan on Friday. The delegation also included the Ambassador of Finland Marya Liivala, the senior adviser to the Embassy Alexey Leppannen, the attache of the Embassy of Finland Irina Ambrosin, as well as executives of Kaukointernational Ltd and other companies.

The parties discussed the ways to further advance bilateral cooperation and noted that existence of huge potential in many areas and the mutual interest for tapping it.

It is worthnoting that in line with the Presidential Decree, the Agency has been entasked to implement the Ilgor Khudud project (transl. Advanced Province) in Jizzakh province.

The project envisages a comprehensive transformation and restructuring of the province’s economy and industry, the renewal and expansion of basic infrastructure, boosting investments inflow in the Jizzakh province.

Note that since June 2018, NAPU, together with experts from the Finnish Water Forum (Finish Water Forum), conducted a study of the city of Jizzakh and adjacent territories to identify key problems and develop waste treatment solutions. As a result, together with Kaukointernational Ltd, a project was prepared to modernize the waste treatment system in the Jizzakh province. While, 30% of the project cost is granted by the Finnish Government. The project is expected to be approved political consultations in May of this year, and in June the preparation of project documentation is to be completed.

The project is planned to be implemented in 2020-2022, its implementation will allow developing a waste management plan, sorting and producing fuels from waste, piloting waste collection in a specific enterprise or group of enterprises.

In addition, Mikko Lavanti, Vice President for Central-Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Nokia Siemens Network proposed cooperation in the field of telecommunications, IT security, smart cities and the digital economy, in particluar cooperation between Business Finland and the business incubator in Jizzakh city, including the signing of a memorandum.

The Finnish delegation invited Uzbekistan officials to attend the Slush Startup Event, which will be held November 21-22 in Helsinki.