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INFORMATION DIGEST № 207
October 24, 2013
POLICY ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
PRESIDENT OF UZBEKISTAN TO ATTEND CIS SUMMIT ................................................................................................................... 2
MEETING OF THE CABINET OF MINISTERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN .............................................................................. 2
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ........................................................................................................................................... 3
MEETING OF MINISTERS OF SCO MEMBER STATES ...................................................................................................................... 4
Press-service of MFA
POLICY
President of Uzbekistan to attend CIS Summit
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov is to take part in the next session of the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Heads of State in Minsk on 24-25 October 2013.
Several important issues, aimed at further development of multilateral cooperation within CIS
frameworks will be considered at the meeting.
(Source: Press service of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan)
Meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan
On October 22, 2013 a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers took place in Tashkent, in which the
results of socio-economic development of the country for the first 9 months of this year have been summed
up and measures for unconditional implementation of the key priorities of economic program for 2013,
determined by President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov at the government meeting on
January 18, 2013, have been worked out.
At the meeting the main macroeconomic indicators of the country, as well as the effectiveness of
current measures to improve the competitiveness of the economy, deepening of structural reforms and
diversification of its industries and sectors, primarily through acceleration and expansion of the scale of
modernization, technical and technological renovation of production facilities, advanced development of
road transport and communications infrastructure, as well as steady increase of employment, level and
quality of life, have been comprehensively considered and deeply analyzed.
It is noted that due to systematic and consistent implementation of the well-thought and focused
program of economic reform and modernization of the country, despite the intensifying problems in the
global economy and a slowdown in its growth, Uzbekistan has ensured preservation of macroeconomic
stability and sustained high rates of economic growth. During the first 9 months of this year, gross domestic
product grew by 8.1 percent, the volume of industrial production by 9.4 percent, including consumer goods
by 15.9 percent, agriculture 6.8 percent, retail trade by 14.7 percent and services by 12.4 percent. State
budget surplus constituted 0.2 percent of GDP. The inflation rate has not exceeded the forecast parameters.
The implementation of an active investment policy to accelerate the development and modernization
of industries, road transport and communications infrastructure, along with measures to improve the
investment climate, has contributed to the growth of investments in fixed assets by 12.5 percent, including
foreign investment - 12.4 percent. 2,2 thousand of new production facilities have been commissioned,
implementation of 60 investment projects have been completed. Production of localized products grew by
39.7 percent, with an estimated effect of import substitution in the amount of U.S. $ 4 billion.
Continued implementation of measures to further improve the business climate, reducing various
barriers and obstacles to business activity has contributed to the creation 21.2 thousand new small
businesses in this year, the volume of industrial production by small businesses increased by 15.2 percent
and the share of the sector in GDP reached 51.2 percent.
Active implementation of the State Program "Year of Well-being and Prosperity" to raise the level
and quality of life, strengthening the material-technical base and improvement of the social institutions have
been ensured, for which funding from all sources in the amount of about 5.6 trillion soums (Currency rates
of CB from 24.10.2013 1$=2168.97 soums), and 250 million U.S. dollars have been allocated.
Implementation of the Program for the creation of jobs and employment in 2013 has been analyzed
in detail and comprehensively as a top priority at the meeting. It is noted that the implementation of
systematic measures for the past 9 months of 2013, 833.4 thousand new jobs have been created, of which
more than 488,000, or 58.6 per cent are in rural areas.
During the discussions, the activities of a number of khokims of regions have been subjected to
harsh criticism for the shortcomings in creation of jobs through the development of small businesses and
entrepreneurship, as well as the provision of employment to graduates of professional colleges.
The heads of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the Council of Ministers of the Republic
of Karakalpakstan, khokims of regions, districts and municipalities, commercial banks, business
associations and large companies have been set specific objectives for the implementation of measures to
ensure employment of population and creation of additional jobs. Meanwhile, a special attention must be
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paid to the leading commercial banks to ensure their investment in modern production and recovery of
industrial activity of bankrupt enterprises and organization of new jobs.
During the discussion of the agenda items of the meeting, works on further development of the
export potential of the country have been comprehensively analysed, with special attention to the measures
taken to promote exports of small businesses and private entrepreneurs in accordance with the decree of the
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of August 8, 2013 "On additional measures to support the export of
small businesses and entrepreneurs."
It is noted that due to ongoing systemic measures on supporting and promoting the activities of
domestic producers, exporters, improving their competitiveness in foreign markets, in spite of adverse
fluctuations in prices of major exports of domestic products over the past 9 months of the current year, a
growth of 13 percent in export and a significant trade surplus have been achieved. 469 new enterprises have
been involved in export activities from the beginning of the year. The proportion of regional enterprises in
total exports has increased two-fold. Also the role and importance of small businesses in total exports have
been steadily increasing, whose shares rose to 19.1 percent compared to 13.5 percent for the same period in
2012.
The attention of heads of business associations, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of
Karakalpakstan, regions and Tashkent city, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and
Trade, the Ministry of Economy have been drawn to the need to strengthen identifying and mobilizing
reserves for the expansion of production and the range of export products.
The National Bank of Foreign Economic Activity have been instructed to expedite the activities of
the organization and proper functioning of the Fund for the support of exports of small business and private
entrepreneurship.
At the meeting, a special attention was paid to the overall consideration and detailed analysis of the
effectiveness of measures taken to further develop the construction contractor companies and strengthen
their material and technical base to meet the growing volume of construction in the coming years. It is noted
that due to the implementation of large-scale programs for construction, reconstruction and modernization in
the manufacturing sector and the social sector, development of rural housing model projects in recent years
have provided an accelerated growth in construction. During the first 9 months of this year volume of
construction works increased by 19.2 percent compared to the same period last year.
The State Committee for Architecture and Construction, Ministry of Economy, the Council of
Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regional and Tashkent city khokimiyats have been tasked to
develop and submit to the Government of the Republic a set of measures on establishment of specialized
building contractors, equipped with modern construction techniques, as well as the strengthening of their
financial condition, material and technical base.
The Ministry of Health together with the Ministry of Finance have been instructed to develop, based
on a thorough analysis of the effectiveness of rural medical units, and submit to the Cabinet of Ministers a
set of organizational measures to further improve the system of healthcare in rural areas, with the
elaboration of clear standards for the evaluation of rural medical units.
Reports of the heads of ministries, agencies, regional authorities and business associations on the
state of readiness of business entities, housing, social and infrastructure facilities for the autumn-winter
period, as well as the stable provision of vegetables and potatoes in the autumn- winter period of 2013-2014.
At the meeting, a special attention was paid to the comprehensive analysis of the state of work on
harvesting agricultural work, cultivation of winter cereals crops and carrying out complex technical
measures for next year's crop. It has been noted that, despite the very difficult irrigation conditions this year,
the timely holding of the whole complex of agricultural activities, management of irrigation water, as well
as the skill of rural workers has allowed to grow and gather 1.97 million tons of raw cotton by 1 October,
and by October 21 to fulfill the forecast state order for cotton.
Following the discussions, relevant decisions, defining concrete measures for unconditional
implementation of the key priorities of social and economic development of the country in 2013 and
creation of a reliable guarantee for the sustainable development of the economy of the country in the coming
years, have been made.
(Source: UzA Information Agency)
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
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Meeting of Ministers of SCO Member States
The twelfth meeting of the external trade and economy ministers of the member states of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO ) took place in Tashkent on October 23.
The meeting was attended by the heads of foreign economic and trade ministries of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation,
Republic of Tajikistan, as well as the SCO Deputy Secretary-General A.Nosirov and the Executive
Secretary of the SCO Business Council S.Kanavsky.
During the meeting that took place in a constructive and friendly atmosphere, a wide range of issues
on further development and deepening of regional economic cooperation within the SCO framework,
reports were heard by heads of the delegations on the status and prospects of trade and economic
cooperation in the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, by the SCO Secretariat on the
implementation of the Programme of multilateral Trade and economic Cooperation of the SCO Member
States and the list of actions for further development of the project activities within the SCO framework for
the period 2012-2016. The activities of the Business Council and Interbank Consortium for 2012-2013 were
also discussed.
The participants of the event noted that, since the eleventh meeting of the Ministers, held on
November 13, 2012 in Bishkek, considerable work on the implementation of the agreements, reached during
the meeting of the Heads of States and Heads of Governments of the SCO Member States in the field of
trade, economic and investment cooperation has been carried out.
In order to develop multilateral economic and investment cooperation, the parties agreed to
consistently carry out practical work to implement the Action Plan for implementation of the Program of
Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation of the SCO Member States and the list of actions for further
development of the project activities within the SCO framework for the period 2012-2016, with priority
attention to investment projects in specific areas of cooperation.
The parties agreed to submit the following documents to the next Council of Heads of Government
of the SCO Member States, to be held on 28-29 November 2013 in Tashkent: the Agreement between the
Governments of the SCO Member States on the creation of favorable conditions for international road
transport, a report of the SCO Secretariat on the implementation of program of Multilateral Trade and
Economic Cooperation of the SCO member states.
Following the meeting, a Protocol was signed by the heads of delegations of the SCO member states.
(Source: UzA Information Agency)
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