A working group of the IKS-holding, a Russian media and research company in IT and telecommunications sector, landed in Tashkent to develop a concept and a roadmap for digitalization of Uzbekistan’s energy sector.

The Uzbek Ambassador to the United States, Javlon Vakhabov, held talks with the chairman of the Uzbekistan Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Congressman (R. Miss.) Trent Kelly, Dunyo reported.

This year, Uzbekistan has to attract 1.7 million foreign tourists, President Shavkat Miriziyoyev instructed at the Feb. 10 government meeting.

The State Tourism Development Committee and the Ministry of Sports will be merged. The new department will be headed by Aziz Abdukhakimov.

Uzbekistan exported US$ 78.87 million worth of cotton fiber in 2020, a 65.35% decrease to 2019. The decrease was due to the production and export of high value-added textile products.

The Special Republican Anti-Coronavirus Commission at the Feb. 11 meeting decided to lift the restriction for flights between Uzbekistan and Germany, the Ministry of Health said.

The Special Republican Anti-Coronavirus Commission at the Feb. 11 meeting decided to certify the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in Uzbekistan and begin work on its registration, the Ministry of Health said.

The Uzbekistan authorities will have vaccinated 20% of the population from coronavirus before 2022, said Botirjon Kurbanov, the deputy chief of sanitary-epidemiological welfare and public health authority. 

On February 10, the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev had a telephone conversation with the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani, the Uzbek presidency website said.

At the Wednesday government meeting, Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed to begin preparations for the public vaccination against coronavirus in Uzbekistan.

The Cabinet of Ministers issued a Resolution on February 8 creating Sudochye-Akpetki state nature sanctuary on ​​280.5 thousand hectares in Muynak district of Karakalpakstan, the State Committee for Ecology and Environmental Protection said.

Uzbekistan has completed the collection of bids for the purchase of the government’s stake in the Coca-Cola Ichimligi Uzbekiston company from companies from Asia, Europe, America and even Africa.

Tourist (hotel) tax will be introduced for each day of their stay in hotels and other accommodation facilities for Uzbek citizens and stateless persons permanently residing in Uzbekistan from March 1, 2021.

The Republic of Korea donated 275 robots and 350 teaching aids to Uzbekistan preschools. The handover ceremony for the Albert and Genibot smart robots, designed to teach children robotics and programming skills, took place on February 9, the Ministry of Preschool Education (MPE) said.

On February 8, the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved amendments and addenda to some regulations due to the improvement of electoral legislation. They were passed by the Legislative Chamber on January 29 and approved by the Senate on February 5.

The President Mirziyoyev signed Measures to Further Promote Domestic and Pilgrim Tourism in the Republic of Uzbekistan Decree introducing a 10-day visa-free for the nationals of Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and China, including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau from March 1.

Minister of Public Education Sherzod Shermatov and U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Daniel Rosenblum hosted a ceremony at Tashkent school #295 to welcome the newly-arrived group of 27 English teachers and visiting scholars from the United States, who will be teaching at schools and universities across Uzbekistan.  ​The group, which arrived in January and completed a two-week quarantine period and orientation, is the first group of U.S. exchange participants to arrive in Central Asia since the coronavirus pandemic started. 

On February 8, the seventh round of negotiations on the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Uzbekistan and the European Union began to be held online within the framework of the working groups’ meeting on trade issues, Dunyo reports. The talks will reportedly last until February 12.

A 240 MW capacity thermal power plant will be built in the Tashkent province, according to the Feb. 2 presidential decree.

On January 29, officers of the Termez city police department of the Surkhandarya province arrested the blogger Otabek Sattoriy.