By 2021, Uzbekistan intends to increase agricultural exports up to US$ 5 billion, the Foreign Trade Minister Jamshid Khodjayev speaking at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin.

The Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will make 36 foreign trips this year, the chair of the international press club Sherzod Kudrathujayev announced.

On January 18, 2019, a meeting was held at the Uzbekistan Embassy to the USA with the US chargé d'affaires ad interim in Uzbekistan Alan Meltzer, who is in Washington to attend the meeting of the heads of US diplomatic missions.

Tashkent will host the second Central Asia Climate Change Conference (CACCC) on April 3-4 to discuss measures to combat the effects of climate change. The CACCC 2019 will bring together over 200 participants from major national, regional and international organizations.

The secrecy regimen will be removed from the gold production and sales figures in Uzbekistan, according to the Jan. 17 decree by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Measures to fulfill the decree must be taken within a month.

President Mirziyoyev signed decree Thursday ordering to draft more lenient visa overstay regulation. The Interior Ministry, together with the Prosecutor General’s Office, the State Security Service, the Ministry of Justice and other agencies, have been tasked to submit a draft bill to the Legislative Chamber providing for more leniency for visa overstay offences, with differentiated fines and ensuring prompt ruling of such cases by the authorized state bodies.

Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov yesterday hosted the Chinese Ambassador Jiang Yan, the ministry said. The parties reportedly exchanged views on topical issues of the Uzbek-Chinese agenda for 2019.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Ministry of Finance’s PPP Agency, with support from the Government of Switzerland, hosted a two-day round-table discussion to explore public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the energy and transport sectors.

Open Skies policy is set to be introduced at Nukus airport, to take effect from the beginning of the IATA (International Air Transport Association) Summer-2019 season schedule to the end of the IATA Winter-2021/2022 season, the Uzbek Flight Safety Supervisory Authority said.

South Korea delegation, led by Justice Minister Park Sang-ki, is visiting Uzbekistan. The delegation of South Korea was hosted by the Uzbek Prosecutor General Otabek Murodov.

ID cards, that were to replace the Uzbekistan passports for internal use, will be introduced in 2021 and not in 2019, said the Director of the State Personalization Center (GPC) under the Cabinet of Ministers, Najmiddin Turakhojaev.

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev will pay an official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany on January 20-22, 2019.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the Victim, Witness and Other Participant Protection in Criminal Process Bill into Law. The bill was passed by the Legislative Chamber on November 22, 2018 and was approved by the Senate on December 13, 2018.

Uzbekistan Railways plans to buy five set of cars for the Tashkent aerial metro line. The President's Draft Purchasing Rolling stock for Tashkent Aerial Metro Line Project Decree has been posted on the portal for assessing the impact of regulations.

The State Committee for Assistance to Privatized Enterprises and Development of Competition has been abolished. This is provided for by the president's decree on the fundamental improvement of the state assets management, antitrust regulation and development of the securities market.

The First Ministerial meeting of “India - Central Asia-Afghanistan” Dialogue took place on 13 January 2019 in Samarkand, Republic of Uzbekistan. The Foreign Ministers of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan attended the meeting.

As of July 1, 2019, privatization of non-agricultural land plots will be allowed Uzbekistan for legal and natural persons. This is provided for by the decree of the President’s Measures to Fundamentally Improve the Processes of Urbanization Decree.

Azim Ahmedkhodjaev, who served as deputy director of the National Agency for Project Management (NAPM) under the President, has been appointed deputy governor of the Jizzakh province, and will be responsible for investments, innovation, assistance to privatized enterprises, development of small industrial zones and promoting tourism.

Confucius Park and a monument to the Chinese thinker will be erected in Samarkand, the Xalq So’zi newspaper reported.

Uzbekistan has posted progress in the latest Democracy Index published by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) climbing three places to 156th among 167 countries.