The President Shavkat Mirziyoyev delivered a message to the Liberal Democratic Party's (UzLiDeP) congress today. Highlights:
“The provisions of my electoral program, presented five years ago, formed the basis of the Uzbekistan’s Development Strategy for 2017-2021 in five priority areas. As part of the implementation of the strategy, about 300 laws, over 4,000 decrees of the president were adopted. In a short time, not a single sphere and industry, city and district, village and makhalla remained in our country, where the breath of renewal would not come.”
“Today our state has opened up for the individual, for the people. We have created a completely new system of direct dialogue with the people, a positive solution to their needs and problems”.
“We have formed a system in state and public administration based on openness and justice, serving the interests of people, making decisions of the people. The most important thing is that we have changed the principle “State - society - person” that has been in effect for many years. The basis of all actions in our country was, first of all, a person, and only then the interests of society and the state”.
“Over the past five years, we have acquired new knowledge, skills and experience on many issues. Of course, we cannot say that the work went smoothly and smoothly in all directions. There were flaws and mistakes in a number of areas. But we can say with full confidence that all our reforms, noble actions are aimed only and only at the development of our country, increasing the well-being of our people. In one word, the provision of democratic principles, the rule of the Constitution and laws in our society rises to a qualitatively new level”.
“The economy grew by 24%, industry - by 34%, the volume of exports - 1.5 times, foreign investments - 3 times. The average salary for this period increased 2.2 times.”
“Any reform should be reflected not just in numbers, but primarily in the daily life of the population, on their table and family. This is the truth of life. All our dreams and aspirations, hard work, work regardless of whether it is day or night - all this is for the sake of the people who look at us with great hope and faith. "
“There have never been such large-scale changes in the social sphere that have been carried out in five years in the history of the country: For every 100 families there are 162 televisions, 107 refrigerators, 287 mobile phones, 49 cars. In other words, almost half of the families in the country own a car. Or, say, in recent years, more than 140,000 houses have been created under mortgage programs. If we compare this figure with previous years, then it is 11 times more”.
“The abolition of the forced labour of 6-7 million people, including children, to pick cotton every year is one of the most important achievements of my presidency. For three or four years now, students and teachers have been studying or working in schools, doctors in hospitals, scientists in laboratories, students in classrooms. "
Goals
Economy
“The Uzbekistan Development Bank will be established.“
“Over the next five years, we will make the digital economy a key driver. Its volume will be increased at least by 2.5 times to US$ 4 billion. Every home and social facility will be connected to high-speed broadband at an affordable price, and highways will be covered with mobile communication and the Internet by 100 percent.
“By 2026, all processes in the oil and gas, chemical, metallurgical and other industries will be fully digitized. The volume of the software industry will increase 5 times, and their exports will increase 10 times to US$ 500 million.”
“By the end of next year, on the basis of the principle "It is documents that will move, not citizens", office work in all government agencies, the exchange of documents with the population will be transferred to a fully electronic form.”
“In order to maintain high growth rates in the economy, macroeconomic stability will be ensured. At the same time, by the end of 2023, the inflation rate will be cut down to 5 percent. The state budget deficit will not exceed 2.5% of GDP. To this end, a new system of effective allocation and control of budget funds will be established. From now on, budget expenditures will be directed primarily to improving the living conditions of our citizens and the development of the provinces.”
“As you know, 5% of the budgets of 14 districts under the program "Citizens' Budget", launched this year, are aimed at solving pressing problems on the basis of proposals from the population. From next year, at least 5 percent of each district budget will be allocated through this program. Thus, based on the needs of the population, 1.5-2 trillion soums a year will be spent on solving the most pressing local problems.”
“Another important issue is to ensure that the annual amount of new external debt does not exceed US$ 5 billion. In order to increase financial resources in the economy, the volume of the stock market will increase from US$ 200 million to US$ 7 billion in the next 5 years. At the same time, the existing restrictions on capital inflows in our country will be reconsidered and favorable conditions will be created for all.”
“To ensure high growth rates in the economy, US$ 120 billion will be attracted over the next five years, of which at least US$ 70 billion in foreign investment. To this end, a separate strategy to attract foreign and domestic investment until 2026 will be adopted. Over the next five years, public-private partnership projects will attract US$ 14 billion in transport, road construction, water management and other areas. From next year, by expanding tax benefits for the depreciation of fixed assets, more than 130,000 entrepreneurs will be left with about 2 trillion soums annually.”
“As you know, we are doing a lot of work on the development of industry and infrastructure in the provinces. This, of course, requires additional financial resources. For this purpose, the Development Bank of Uzbekistan will be established.”
“Uzbekistan’s exports will increase 1.7 times and reach US$ 30 billion in 2026. The share of raw materials in exports will decrease from the current 46% to 23%, and the volume of finished products will increase 2.5 times”.
GDP, Industry
“The gross domestic product per capita is expected to increase by 1.6 times over the next five years,. According to him, the Action Strategy for the five priority areas of the country's development in 2017-2021 "has created a solid foundation for stable development through the practical implementation of market mechanisms in all sectors of the economy."
“Thus, by 2030, we will increase per capita income to more than US$ 4,000 and create a solid foundation for entering the list of countries with upper middle income”.
“Of course, this is no easy task. To do this, we, first of all, must carry out fundamental changes in labor efficiency by increasing new technologies and value chains in the economy based on knowledge and innovation”.
“To this end, in the next five years, the volume of industrial production should be increased 1.4 times, and labor productivity - 2 times. This is planned to be implemented primarily in the industries that are "drivers", on the basis of the principle "from raw materials to finished products" and through the development of a system of industrial clusters”.
Clusters
“By organizing a cluster of the copper industry, it is planned to double the production of copper and other products in five years, which will create the basis for the production of US$ 8 billion. Additional 10 billion dollars should be brought by the products that will be produced by Navoi, Almalyk and Bekabad metallurgical enterprises within the framework of "a number of large projects." In addition, by increasing the level of gas processing from 8% to 20% in the chemical industry, it is planned to produce products worth USUS$ 2 billion”.
“Five chemical clusters will be created in Karakalpakstan, Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Fergana and Tashkent provinces, where it is planned to implement more than 40 promising projects with a total value of almost US$ 7 billion. Personnel and scientists for these projects will be trained in a scientific and educational cluster organized in the capital's Ulugbek village”.
“In order to provide the industry with a resource base, the volume of exploration work will be significantly increased, and private investors and leading foreign companies will be attracted to the sphere. The tax on the use of natural resources for nonmetallic minerals will be reduced by 2 times, natural gas - 3 times, oil - 2 times. In addition, for copper and gold, this tax will be reduced to 7%".
Taxes
“In 2020, we cut the value added tax rate from 20 percent to 15 percent. This meant that 10 trillion soums was kept at by businesses. Now, with the necessary preparations, we will cut this tax rate from 15 percent to 12 percent from 2023 onwards.
Next year, the property tax rate will be reduced from 2% to 1.5%, leaving 500 billion soums a year at the disposal of entrepreneurs.
“Another innovation is that from 2023, a single real estate tax will be introduced, combining property and land taxes of legal entities.”
“Currently, the corporate income tax rates in such business areas as banking, finance, telecommunications are different, they will be reduced from the current 20% to 15% and will be the same for all businesses.”
“The state monopoly on 25 types of activities, such as road construction, heat supply, landscaping services, will be abolished, and now a wide opportunities will be launched for the private sector.”
“The Council of Entrepreneurs will be established on the basis of several existing structures that support entrepreneurship in districts and cities.”
Political
“A candidate for the post of mayor of a district and city will be nominated by the party group that has the largest number of seats in the district council. The candidate will be approved for the post of mayor on condition that he can defend his program for the development of the province before the people”.
“In addition, a number of social issues, including drinking water and sewerage, the construction of internal roads, other infrastructure facilities, the approval of the employment program are planned to be transferred to the competence of district and city councils”.
“As a logical continuation of the liberalization policies in our country, about 10 offences that have lost their significance will be removed from the category of crimes and the number of mitigating cases will be increased from 9 to 15.”
“A single electronic register of suspects will be launched.”
“Most importantly, failure to include information in the register would be grounds for declaring the detention of suspects illegal.”
“We will mobilize all the forces and means of the state and society in the fight against corruption, which is a serious obstacle to our progress.”
“The system of declaring income and property of civil servants will be gradually introduced from next year. Public procurement and sale of state property are organized in a transparent manner and involve the public.”
“Any official who commits corruption, regardless of position and status, will be subject to unconditional legal liability. An open register of such persons shall be maintained, and their entry into the civil service and nomination of candidates for responsible positions shall be restricted.”
“Free legal aid will be provided to citizens in need of social protection at the expense of the state, not only in criminal cases, but also in civil and administrative cases. This will provide legal protection to at least 100,000 people.”
“Another issue is the shortage of lawyers in our country. Therefore, in order to attract young professionals to the field, the requirement for legal internship will be abolished, and people with higher legal education will have the opportunity to pass the bar exam after 3 months of training”.
Social
“In the coming years "we will continue to transform the capital into a territory convenient for the population, ecologically clean and having all the conditions for life."
“The Tashkent city public transport will be completely revised. In addition, 3,000 km of internal roads will be updated and 10 modern bridges will be built. The level of landscaping in Tashkent will be increased to 30%, 9 public parks, 20 squares, 250 km of bicycle and pedestrian paths will appear, ”the president said.
“The sewage system of Tashkent will be moved outside the city limits, and on the basis of a public-private partnership, it is planned to build a new treatment plant.”
“Through the restoration of 16 km of the banks of the Chirchik River, it is expected to develop 500 hectares of land, on which production facilities, service points and residential buildings will be erected. In general, in the next five years, a phased implementation of the project to create the city of New Tashkent will begin".
“It is planned to build and update 70 thousand km of main electrical networks and low voltage networks, more than 22 thousand transformers and over 100 substations. At the same time, over 70,000 km of highways, over 15,000 km of drinking water supply networks and over 1,000 km of sewage networks will be built. The level of provision of the country's population with centralized drinking water supply is planned to be increased to 87%.”
“Daily services will be established between Tashkent and major cities with the ability to cover the distance in a maximum of 6-7 hours. Railway electrification will be increased from the current 40% to 60%. The high-speed train service will be established on the Tashkent - Urgench route”.
“It is plannned to launch a nationwide Yashil Makon (Green Space) program. Within the framework of this program, it is expected to introduce a system of planting trees in households, on the streets, in makhallas and villages, cities, along roads and fields, growing shrubs that correspond to the climate of the province, irrigation and caring for them. Through this system, 200 million trees will be planted in the provinces annually,” he said.
“At the same time, an unlimited standstill on tree felling will be introduced. From now on, it is strictly forbidden to use the territory of parks and green zones for other purposes, ”the President said.
“It is planned to create 500 thousand hectares of green spaces on the dried bottom of the Aral Sea, their total area will be increased to 2.5 million hectares, or 78% of the territory.”
“In the Aral Sea region, at the expense of the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility, projects worth $ 300 million will be implemented to prevent changes in biodiversity and climate, as well as soil degradation.”
International
“We will spare no effort to help bring peace and stability to neighboring Afghanistan, the suffering Afghan people. We will definitely, in partnership, implement the Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway project, as well as strategic and important projects in the field of energy, trade and industry, ”he said.
"Uzbekistan will strengthen its activities in UN bodies and agencies, in global and provinceal economic, financial and humanitarian organizations.
"Concrete practical steps will be taken to join the World Trade Organization and deepen the integration processes with the Eurasian Economic Union."
Afterword
"When I say that the people's trust is a source of great power and inspiration, which we have all felt sincerely over the years, I think you will agree.”
“It is this great trust that gave us hope and support in the most difficult moments, gave strength to our body and the wings to our soul.”
“To be worthy of this high trust, to mobilize all my strength, knowledge and potential in the interests of our people, our Motherland and its happiness, has always been and will always be the meaning of my life.”
“For me, there is no greater happiness, no greater honor and responsibility than this, and there can be no greater.”
“I am grateful to the Creator for the great happiness of building a new Uzbekistan with my motherland, the foundation of the Third Renaissance.”
“On this path, with our noble people, I am ready to overcome any trials and tribulations.
“At this historic moment, when our dear Motherland is entering a decisive stage of its development, I would like to address our multinational people: together with you, we have passed many difficult milestones and obstacles.”
“But we never stopped halfway. Sometimes we were tired and exhausted. But we never gave up. We have never lost faith in the future, in the bright days.”
“There is no task more important to me than serving the people. I draw strength from the people. When our citizens talk about their problems, I know there are even more serious problems and I try to solve them.”
“Because we have a people who always give us strength, who embrace us as children, we have a unique Motherland. These words are no mere words - the meaning of my life!”
“Now I am not the president of the 5 years ago and you are not the delegates of the 5 years ago. The world is changing, we are also changing, we are gaining experience. These changes are not simple changes. These days will be written in glorious letters in our history."
