DOWNLOADS

Visa Form (PDF file)

National Anthem

Web

uzbekembassy.in

LIVE WEATHER

USEFUL LINKS

President's Press-office

http://www.press-service.uz 

Portal of the State Authority Republic of Uzbekistan

http://www.gov.uz

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Uzbekistan

http://www.mfa.uz

Uzbek National Information Agency

http://www.uza.uz/eng/

Jahon Information Agency

http://www.jahon.mfa.uz

EXPLORE UZBEKISTAN

EXPLORE UZBEKISTAN

                                              LATEST NEWS : September 2010                     ARCHIVES

 

There is a growing demand for natural tomato paste produced by Nukus-Agro limited liability company of Nukus district. Once the venture Korakalpoktomat was transformed into Nukus-Agro LLC, there was a large volume of work on modernization. Equipped with modern technology, the enterprise launched the production of high quality products.   In accordance with presidential decree “On measures to further improve the financial stability of the real sector of the economy” from November 18, 2008, the National Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs invested over 669 million soums into the new enterprise.

“With the assistance of the bank, we repaired all our equipment and replaced the outdated with new,” said the head of the company Kenesboy Ernazarov. “In addition, sewerage system stretching over one kilometer was built and put into operation.”

Currently, the company concluded the 50-million-soums worth contract with customers. It also plans to export its production in near future.

The company has already produced 100 tons of high quality tomato paste. Over 300 tons of the paste is scheduled to release by the end of 2010. The enterprise provided 137 people with work.
 

www.uza.uz 

 

On 29 September, a festive event was held in Turkistan palace in Tashkent to commemorate the Teachers Day, which is celebrated on 1 October in Uzbekistan. The leading professors and teachers of secondary schools, professional colleges and universities from all over the country including the students and the representatives of various ministries, departments and public organizations gathered together at the event.

On the eve of the event the participants visited the Independence Square and laid flowers to the Monument of Independence and Humanism, a symbol of freedom, bright future and noble aspirations.

The State Advisor to the President H. Sultanov read the festive greetings of President Islam Karimov to teachers and mentors.

In accordance with presidential decree on September 29, 2010 a group of teachers and mentors was awarded the highest awards of the Motherland for a significant contribution to improving the intellectual and spiritual potential of the country, upbringing the harmonically developed young generation in the spirit of national and universal values, love of country and devotion to the ideas of independence, for showing dedication in learning the basics of sciences and the modern professions, many years of fruitful work in the field of education and active participation in public life.

The English teacher of school № 15 Mingbulak district of Namangan region Feruza Erkulova, People’s Artist of Uzbekistan Yokub Akhmedov, deputy chairman of the Mahalla republican fund Rakhmatillo Sheraliev spoke at the event. They expressed their gratitude to the head of state for great attention and care, respect, material and moral stimulation of the teaching profession.

The exhibition of books, manuals, electronic literature as well as children’s art was organized in the lobby of Turkistan palace.

Also, the winners of the contests conducted by the Ministry of Public Education in 2010, “The best subject teacher of the year” and “Best Teacher of the Year were presented with souvenirs.

A festive concert by artists and young performers followed the ceremony.

The Speaker of Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis D. Tashmuhamedova, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh. Mirziyoev and Tashkent city khomim A. Tuhtaev attended the ceremony.
 

www.uza.uz 

Speech by President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov at the plenary session of the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, attract great interest to the entire world community.

Our Head of State put forward thoroughly reasoned practical proposals to strengthen peace and stability, security, environmental problems in Central Asian region, revealed a deep foundation for successful progress of large-scale reforms implemented in our country in order to develop and further improve people’s welfare.

The Resident Representative of UNDP in Uzbekistan Anita Nirody praised the achievements of Uzbekistan in Millennium Development Goals.

“The United Nations has cooperated with Uzbekistan for many years and we note the importance that is given to achieve MDG in your country,” she said. “The participation of President Islam Karimov at the summit on MDG, held recently at UN headquarters, will give a new impetus in this direction.”

A steady progress towards the achieving of MDG is going on in Uzbekistan through high level of economic growth and implementation of programs in social sphere, particularly, in education and health sectors.

Anti-crisis program and appropriate actions taken on the initiative of President Islam Karimov, were very timely to mitigate the impact of global economic crisis on Uzbekistan. It allowed avoid abrupt adverse changes in the achievement of the MDG.

The achievement of gender equality in primary and secondary education and reduction of maternal mortality by one third have been completed in Uzbekistan. A progress is being made on reducing child mortality and achieving primary education. Further efforts and improved data collection and analysis are required to implement effective national policies and programs for other MDG targets.

Through consultations, software and technical assistance, the UN supports Uzbekistan to achieve the goals. The cooperation is carried out within the framework of UNDAF program for 2010-2015, which identifies four key areas of partnership.

The first is to assist in improving the economic well-being, the second – in the provision of social services including education, health, nutrition, HIV and drug use prevention, social protection of children and early child development.

The third direction of cooperation is environmental protection, including the integration of sustainable development of ongoing work and management improvement. The framework program reflects the MDG as well as the principles of Millenium Declaration and international conferences and conventions on human rights.

The UN continues to support the Republic of Uzbekistan in achieving the MDG.

www.uza.uz

Within the decree of the President of Uzbekistan on State Program of the Year of Harmoniously Developed Generation dated January 2010, the special attention is drawn to formation of healthy lifestyle among young people, implementation of comprehensive measures to shield youth from alcoholism, drug addiction and other various adverse effects and religious and extremist flows that are alien to Uzbek mentality.

Consistent implementation of the objectives set out in this document places responsibility on educational institutions. Therefore, the schools, vocational colleges, academic lyceums and universities of the country place great emphasis on improving the legal knowledge and culture to youth, conducting various activities in cooperation with state and public organizations, law enforcement agencies.

Such event was organized at Tashkent Islamic University in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice. More than 100 students are enrolled at the university majoring in such areas as Islamic law, religion, international economic relations and computer science.

The participants of the event discussed the human rights issues in Uzbekistan and the essence and meaning of new laws.
 

www.uza.uz 

The Uzbek-German joint pharmaceutical company UzGerMed Pharm was put into operation in Yukorichirchik district of Tashkent region.

“The company will produce three million standard units of drugs of different pharmacological groups, like Novocaine, Calcium gluconate, Glucose, Dimedrol, Dibazol,” said the executive director of the venture Abdurahman Nazarov.

“The plant is equipped with modern technology, employing more than 50 specialists. With the launch of the company at full capacity, the number of workers will be brought up to 120 people.”

Provision of population and medical institutions with quality and affordable medicine is an important direction in the sequence of reforms in the medical system of the country. Decree of President Islam Karimov “On the program of modernization, technical and technological rearmament of enterprises of the pharmaceutical industry for the period by 2011” of November 2007, is an important factor in the development of this sphere.

At present, over 110 pharmaceuticals operate at Uzfarmsanoat. For the past period of 2010, they exported the goods worth of $605.8 thousand USD.

The favorable investment conditions for domestic producers also serve as an important factor in establishing new enterprises in the industry. In addition, existing companies are reconstructed and modernized, launching new product lines.

It should be noted that from the beginning of the year, the number of manufacturing facilities in Tashkent region reached 100. Over $10.5 million USD and 38 billion soums were invested to create these companies jointly with local and foreign entrepreneurs. About 2,000 new jobs were created in these new enterprises.
 

www.uza.uz 

More than 100 athletes from almost 20 countries competed for prizes and for ranking points, which give the right to participate in the forthcoming 2012 in the London XXX Summer Olympic Games, in the judo competitions at the World Cup among women, which were held in the capital sports complex “Uzbekistan.”

In the competition, lasted for two days, our compatriots Iroda Abdurakhmonova and Rima Berdikulova won the silver medal and provided the national team of Uzbekistan a place in the top five.

Iroda Abdurakhmonova ahead of Liraz Ben Melech from Jordan, Alina Ten from Kazakhstan, Hanna Carmichael of USA among girls in the weight category up to 57 kilograms and Rima Berdikulova won over Saltanat Ahmadjonova from Kyrgyzstan, Solongo Baatarsaihan from Mongolia and Lenar Mingazova from Kazakhstan in the competitions among girls in the weight category up to 52 kilograms.

“Ample opportunities created in Uzbekistan for the manifestation of talent and potential of young people calling us to new victories,” said I.Abdurakhmonova. “My goal is to win the world championship and Olympic Games and justify the confidence of the people.”

Ikumi Tanimoto (Japan), Kyung Ok Kim, Jan Di Kim, Mi Jong Geong, Na Yong Kim (South Korea), Nataliya Smal (Ukraine) and Mungbat Urantsettseg (Mongolia) won gold medals.

At the same time, the competition for World Cup among men carried out in Almata (Kazakhstan). Athletes from Uzbekistan won one gold, two silver, three bronze medals and took the third place in the team event.

A member of the team of Uzbekistan Navruz Jurakobilov defeated Abzal Abilov of Kazakhstan, the representative of Tajikistan Saidjalol Saidov, Ulana Gurtuyeva of Russia and reached the final. In the decisive battle, N.Jurakobilov defeated the host Rinat Ibragimov and won a gold medal and important rating points.

Dilshod Choriyev of Uzbekistan defeated Chinese Ksyunjao Cheng, Russian Kirill Voprosova and took second place. Another representative of Uzbekistan Utkir Kurbanov defeated Talgat Amrenov (Kazakhstan), Muhammadumar Abdurakhmonov (Tajikistan), Sergey Samoilovich (Russia), he was awarded with the silver medal. Gabit Esimbetov, Farmon Kobulov and Khurshid Nabiyev won bronze medals in their weight classes.
 

www.uza.uz 

The member of the national tennis team of Uzbekistan Murod Inoyatov won the top prize in the doubles at the tournament of the international series Futures of International Tennis Federation (ITF) in Iran.

Murod Inoyatov and Ivan Anikanov from Ukraine, the first duet of the prestigious tournament in the first two meetings, beat Italian tennis players Matteo Marfia and Luca Rovetta with a score of 6:3, 6:3, as well as representatives of Germany Sebastian Fitz and Mark-Alexander Kepler with a score of 7: 5, 6:4, respectively.

The match for a ticket to the finals against the hosts Amr-Suhayl Muhsiniy and Ashkan Shokufiy completed before the appointed time. Iranians, losing in the first set with a score of 5:7, in the second set, trailing with 0:3 decided not to continue the game.

In the playoff, Murod Inoyatov and Ivan Anikanov beat the Russian pair of Alexander Lobkov and Alexander Rumyantsev with a score of 6:3, 6:4 and became the winners of the competition.
 

www.uza.uz 

 

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev arrived in Tashkent on an official visit on 27 September on the invitation of the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov. The strong bonds of friendship and brotherhood of peoples of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, the proximity of cultures, languages, religions and traditions provide a good basis for a broad and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.   The relations between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan after their independence rose to a new, qualitatively higher level.

The relations based on the principles of trust, mutual understanding and respect are valued in Tashkent and Baku. The heads of the two states hold meetings on a regular basis.

The ceremony of the official meeting of the President of Azerbaijan was held in Kuksaroy residence on 27 September. The guard of honor was lined up to welcome the honorary guest. Islam Karimov and Ilham Aliyev rose to the podium. The national anthems of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan were glorified, after which the heads of the states reviewed the guard of honor.

In one-on-one, the two leaders had a conversation, exchanged views on the status and prospects of bilateral relations and discussed the bilateral cooperation within the frame of international organizations, problems of regional and international significance, as well as many other issues of mutual interest.

“We see your visit to Uzbekistan as a landmark event, a natural continuation of the dynamically developing relations between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan,” Islam Karimov said. “In my view, our meeting with you and exchange of views, discussion of extremely important and sensitive issues, in which our countries are interested, are of great importance.

There are still untapped opportunities that are important to the interests of both Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Of course, we will find the opportunity to exchange views on a wide range of issues of regional and international importance.”

In turn, the leader of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev expressed gratitude to Islam Karimov for the invitation to visit Uzbekistan and highlighted the mutual understanding of the relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

“We are very please with the success of your country,” Ilham Aliyev said. “During the period of independence of Uzbekistan had formed as a powerful leader, a key country in the region. Under your leadership, thanks to your principled and wise policy, Uzbekistan has achieved great results.

Today it is impossible not to notice. Even the most biased observers recognize and reckon with this. We respect the independent course of Uzbekistan, the fundamental policy issues of regional importance and international perspective. As we all know, we do not always see such an approach in the world. We are determined to develop our relations in all areas,” Ilham Aliyev said.

Further, presidents have continued the talks in expanded format with participation of official delegations. The sides discussed the trade-economic and humanitarian issues. Despite the global financial crisis, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan are among the few countries in the world with high growth economy. This is a vivid testimony to the vitality and efficiency of each country’s own development models.

During the negotiations at Kuksaroy residence, the sides noted the capacity to increase the bilateral trade. The regular meeting of Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan intergovernmental commission for cooperation, which identified the prospects for expanding the trade and economic mutual relations, preceded the visit of the President of Azerbaijan to Uzbekistan.

At present, Uzbekistan supplies Azerbaijan with vehicles, nonferrous metals, electric and mechanical devices, various optics, agricultural products as well as provides services in transportation, tourism and other spheres. Azerbaijan’s export to Uzbekistan mainly consists of mechanical devices, pharmaceuticals, plastic, sugar, confectionery and various organic chemicals, tanning and dyeing extracts.

The two countries are cooperating in the field of civil aviation in such areas as a supply of spare parts for aircraft repair and maintenance of aircraft, training pilots and technical staff.

The investment capacity of industrial free-trade zone Navoi also represents good opportunities to deepen the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. The joint construction of new production facilities and the work in the field of intercontinental air travel in the future will be particularly advantageous for Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.

At the end of the negotiations at Kuksaroy residence Islam Karimov and Ilhom Aliyev signed the Joint Declaration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Also, an intergovernmental agreement on economic cooperation in 2011-2015, the Agreement on Cooperation between the broadcasting companies, the Agreement on Cooperation between the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan and the Institute of art and architecture of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, as well as other documents testifying to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in different areas were signed.

At a meeting with representatives of the media, Islam Karimov and Ilham Aliev noted that the talks were constructive, held in a spirit of mutual trust and friendship. They noted the agreements will further contribute to the development of Uzbek-Azerbaijani relations and the welfare of both countries’ people. Islam Karimov also noted that the national exhibition of achievements of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan will be held in near future in Tashkent and Baku, respectively.

In the afternoon, Islam Karimov and Ilham Aliyev visited the Independence Square. Azerbaijani President laid a wreath at the Monument of Independence and Humanism, which symbolizes the freedom of Uzbekistan and its people’s noble aspirations and sincere belief in brighter future. Ilham Aliyev praised the broad constructive work carried out under the leadership of President Islam Karimov at the Independence Square.

President Ilham Aliyev got acquainted with the activities of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis. The close cooperation has been established between the Legislative Chamber of Uzbekistan Oliy Majlis and the Parliament of Azerbaijan Milli Majlis. Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan inter-parliamentary working group was established in the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan.

The parliament members of the two countries regularly participate as observers during elections and referendums in both countries.

Islam Karimov and Ilham Aliyev visited the Uzbekistan Palace of international forums, which was built in Tashkent in 2009 on the initiative of Uzbek President. The palace meets all international standards for major international conferences, cultural and educational events and concerts.

Landscape design that surrounds this majestic building, gives it a special beauty. Azerbaijani President praised the architecture and design, combining modern style and national character.

Ilham Aliyev noted that this majestic building is yet another confirmation of the high potential of Uzbekistan in all respects.

Then the two heads of states visited the Hazrati Imam complex and examined the Hazrati Imam Mosque. Ilham Aliyev got acquainted with the unique manuscript of the Holy Quran – Usmon Mushafi and left a note in the book of honorable guests of the complex.

Later President of Azerbaijan attended the opening ceremony of a new building of the Azerbaijan Culture Center in Tashkent named after Azerbaijan’s national leader Heydar Aliyev.
 

www.uza.uz 

16th Tashkent International Tourism Fair “Tourism on the Silk Road” will be held in Uzexpocenter on 7-8 October, 2010.

The development of tourism and improvement of the service sector are among the priority areas of the policy in Uzbekistan. As a result of the reforms held under the leadership of President Islam Karimov, the infrastructure of tourism has changed radically.

The number of modern hotels is increasing, the quality of service is improving, new tourist routes are being developed and transport communications are being renewed. All of this contributes to the development of the tourism sector.

Since 1995, the fair has been one of the largest tourist forums in Central Asia. It is aimed at a wide range of the Uzbek professionals and foreign tourism. As one of the main activities in this industry, Tashkent International Tourism Fair plays a significant role in creating and maintaining the image of Uzbekistan.

This year the fair will occupy two showrooms of Uzexpocenter. The event will be attended by the leading national and regional tourist offices.

The number of the fair participants has been increasing by the year and expanding its geography and the range of services. The representatives of such countries as Azerbaijan, Germany, Greece, India, Kazakhstan, China, Cyprus, Malaysia, UAE, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, Czech Republic, Switzerland and others confirmed participation in Tashkent International Tourism Fair. Debutant of the current trade fair is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The main goal of the Tashkent International Tourism Fair 2010 is to give all the necessary information about the different types of leisure activities, new tourist routes to the visitors and participants. The forum will sum up the summer season, will determine the trends for the next year and open up possibilities for next season.

The pavilion “Tourism in Uzbekistan” will be deployed in the Tashkent International Tourism Fair, consolidating regional offices which pay special attention to the development of domestic and inbound tourism. The organizations that promote development of tourism in Uzbekistan will be presented in the exclusive stands.

The fair participants can get acquainted with the services related to environmental and sports tourism, the work of the hotels, insurance and banking services, the activity of the national and regional tourist organizations and travel agencies.

The pavilion will be divided thematically into several parts under the concept of the exhibition. The primary will be the exhibition “Uzbekistan country of tourism,” then stands of “Transportation,” “Hotel business the largest complex component of the tourism industry,” “Restaurants of Uzbekistan.”

The demonstration of brands will be held for each of the regions of Uzbekistan, has a distinctive flavor, unique features and peculiarities. It allows penetrate every corner of Uzbekistan and see a single, beautiful image of this ancient and renewed country, to assess its contribution to world civilization.

Uzbekistan has something to surprise visitors. The Great Silk Road left great legacy to this earth. More than 4,000 outstanding monuments of ancient architecture palaces and fortresses, mausoleums and mosques, madrassas and minarets annually draw many people from all over the world in a country.

Among the foreign visitors are fans of the environmental, folklore-ethnographic, scientific and educational types of tourism, lovers of extreme experiences mountain climbing in any time of year, rafting, trekking, horse or bicycle tours, and jeep-safari in the desert expanse. Uzbekistan has a unique natural and medical-wellness areas, so the exhibition will focus on infrastructure of tourism and recreation, the development of recreational areas and health centers for the reception of domestic and foreign tourists.

The final of the republican contest “The Best of the best in tourism of Uzbekistan in 2009” will be held during the fair followed by the end of the season: the best tour operator of inbound, outbound, domestic travel, the best hotel in Uzbekistan, the best restaurant, the best tour guide, the best driver in the field of tourism, the best journalist in the field of tourism, the best institution in the field of tourism, the best author of the youth tourism project, the best scientific research in the field of tourism, the best exclusive stand, the mentor of the year, the person of the year.

The next meeting of representatives of national tourism administrations participating countries of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) “Silk Road” will be held within the exhibition on 8-9 October in Samarkand.
 

www.uza.uz 

The traditional international tennis tournament of women Tashkent Open – 2010, in which the strongest players from more than 10 countries participated, ended in the tennis courts at the Republican school of Olympic reserve. These traditional contests relating to the prestigious tournaments of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), are significant with identification of talented tennis players.   This tradition continued as well: in the final, Russian tennis players Alla Kudryavtseva and Elena Vesnina for the first time fought for first place. Kudryavtseva won with a score of 6:4, 6:4 and received the main prize of the contest.

In the doubles, Alexandra Panova (Russia) and Tatiana Puchek (Belarus) won a pair of Alexandra Dulgheru (Romania) and Magdalena Ribarikova (Slovakia) with score of 6:3, 6:4.
 

The representatives of the WTA, experts, coaches and athletes who participated in the closing ceremony of the tournament, pointed out that current event, as always, was organized at high level. “The prestigious competition, held in your beautiful city, took place at the highest level,” said the main prize winner Alla Kudryavtseva. “It testifies the great attention paid to the development of sport and in particular, tennis in Uzbekistan.   I express my special gratitude to the fans who supported tennis players during the tournament.” Khokim of Tashkent city A.Tukhtayev participated in the closing ceremony of the tournament.   www.uza.uz

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev arrived in Tashkent on an official visit on 27 September on the invitation of the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.

Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev welcomed the high-ranking guest at the Tashkent airport.

During the visit, issues of expansion of Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan cooperation, as well as important problems of regional and international character will be discussed.

On the result of the talks, signing of bilateral documents aimed at deepening the two states’ interaction in various areas is planned.
 

www.uza.uz 

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev will pay an official visit to Uzbekistan on 27-28 September on the invitation of the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.

During the visit, issues of expansion and deepening of Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan cooperation and important problems of regional and international character will be considered.

On the results of the talks, signing of bilateral documents aimed at deepening interaction of the two states in various areas is expected.
 

www.uza.uz 

The session of the Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan intergovernmental joint commission on cooperation took place on 23 September in Tashkent.

Representatives of ministries and companies related to foreign economic relations, trade, investments, science, IT, tourism, transport and agriculture participated in the session.

The delegations of the two countries considered issues of increasing mutual trade and the number of joint ventures in various sectors. They also touched upon issues of cooperation in the banking and finance, small business and other areas.

Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan have huge potential to develop trade and economic ties, the members of the commission said. More than 30 joint ventures with Azerbaijani capital operate in Uzbekistan.
They work in sectors like energy, light industry, machinery building, metals processing, insurance, science and education, food industry, construction and others.
 

www.uza.uz 

Members of the delegation of the British parliament headed by chairman of Britain-Uzbekistan parliamentary group John Waverley held talks with chairman of Senate of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan Ilgizar Sobirov.

The sides considered issues of expansion of parliamentary cooperation. The foreign guests also got acquainted with the activity of the parliament of Uzbekistan.

At the end of the meeting, the memorandum of understanding was signed between the Uzbek parliament’s group for cooperation with British parliament and the Britain-Uzbekistan all-party group of the British parliament.

The document envisages expansion and strengthening of ties between the parliaments and development of political, economic and social relations.

The British parliamentary delegation also held negotiations with the speaker of the Legislative Chamber (lower house) of the Oliy Majlis Dilorom Tashmuhamedova.

Britain-Uzbekistan parliamentary group was set up in 2009 in order to develop cooperation between various organizations and bodies of the two countries, boost inter-parliamentary dialogue and develop ties between the two states.

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov on 19 September met John Waverley on London on his way to New York for the UN summit.

www.uza.uz 

Distinguished Mr. Chairman!
Dear friends!

One of the most serious obstacles, as it is underscored in the UN Millennium Declaration, in the course of struggle against poverty, misery, hunger, growth of maternal and child mortality, epidemics and other problems of humanity are the ongoing wars and conflicts on our planet, continuing interstate, interethnic and inter-religious confrontations.

We see the confirmation of this truth in the example of long-suffering Afghanistan, where the military operations have already been continuing for more than 30 years.

Today it becomes more obvious that there is no military solution of the Afghan problem, and the chosen strategy of the coalition forces to bring peace to Afghanistan does not bear the expected results. Every new day of the continuing war even more deteriorates the disastrous state of the people of Afghanistan and even more complicates the solution of the problem itself.

In the current situation it becomes utterly important to search the alternative ways of achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan. Among them, in our opinion, creation of the Contact Group “6+3” under the United Nations auspices, which was proposed by Uzbekistan yet in 2008, could play a significant role.

The meaning and essence of our initiative are based on the idea that the problems of Afghanistan must be resolved by the Afghans themselves along with the assistance of the states, which proceeding from their security objectives, are interested in ending the war and a stable future of Afghanistan.

Among them, above all, one should refer to the United States, NATO and Russia, which are concretely engaged in peacemaking mission, as well as the immediate neighbors of Afghanistan.

The most important objectives of the “6+3” Contact Group are to propose to the confronting parties the Program of secession of military operations in Afghanistan, find compromise solutions on the key problems and contradictions which divide the country, ensure security and provide necessary guarantees.

The negotiations, in our opinion, must be held with all major confronting forces.

Along with this, the first and foremost attention in the Program must be paid to rendering the economic aid, implementing the social, infrastructural and humanitarian projects, tackling the problems of unemployment, urgent tasks to eliminate poverty, misery and violation of rights. It is necessary to show a full respect to the centuries-old traditions, customs and values of the religion of Islam adhered by the people of Afghanistan.

The coalition peacemaking forces that are still based in Afghanistan can facilitate achievement of the set goal.

The tragic events that took place in June 2010 in Kyrgyzstan bear a serious threat to stability of situation in the Central Asian region.

The last April overthrow of the presidential power which had discredited itself, the followed tension and confrontation, as well as the vacuum in terms of legitimate power in the country served as a prologue to provoke in the south of Kyrgyzstan the cruel and bloody events on interethnic basis. As a result of these events, hundreds of people were killed and thousands of peaceful citizens suffered.

Today we have all grounds to state that the Kyrgyz nationals themselves and numerous Uzbek diaspora living in the south of the country became hostages of a deeply thought-out and well-organized action on the part of the third forces.

This action was aimed not only at instigating chaos and uncontrollable situation in the country, but also pursued far reaching goals to draw Uzbekistan into this brutal massacre and finally turn the interethnic standoff into an interstate confrontation of the two neighboring states – Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

In this extremely complex and explosive situation it became the hardest problem for us to prevent the forethought scenario of events. It cost us a profound straining of power and resources to receive in our territory more than one hundred thousand refugees, children, women and elderly, give shelter, accommodate and provide them with all the necessary. And at the same time, we did not allow the most brutal violence to expand, managed to preserve tranquility in the bordering territory, exclude any surge of emotions, passions and extremism which could lead to unpredictable consequences.

It was only a sound reason and comprehension of a simple truth that since many centuries Uzbeks and Kyrgyzs have lived side by side on this land, and that their children and descendants will continue living together for many coming centuries, gave us and our people the power to prevent the situation when this tragedy is turned into a new large-scale confrontation spot in Central Asia.

It is obvious that today Kyrgyzstan needs a humanitarian assistance and support from neighbors and the world community.

However, it is not less important task to conduct an independent International inquiry of the pogroms, murders and violence committed on June 11-14 in the south of Kyrgyzstan in order to bring to trial all those who ordered, organized and executed those bloody outrages.

I am convinced that the timely holding of objective and independent international investigations which rule out any prejudice and one-sided approach, firm and principle position of the international community can pave the way to reconciliation and accord between the Kyrgyzs and the Uzbek minority in the south of Kyrgyzstan. Any deviation from these positions may lead to the situation when the tragic events can repeat again and the emergence of a very dangerous source of tension in the south of Kyrgyzstan.

In this connection, we can rightfully expect the United Nations to provide comprehensive assistance in conducting the independent International investigation of the tragic events. This will allow to prevent a possible escalation of events in the neighboring Kyrgyzstan.

Protecting and preserving environment acquires an enormous significance to achieve the goals set by the Millennium Declaration, especially under the conditions of contemporary anomalous climate changes.

The tragedy of Aral which practically during a lifetime of one generation has turned from once one of the unique and most beautiful seas into a drying and vanishing water reservoir stands as a vivid example and evidence of our irresponsible attitude towards the environmental problems.

For forty years the water area of the Aral Sea shrank for more than 7 times, the volume of water decreased for 13 times, its mineralization increased for tens times, having made the sea improper place for living organisms. As a result, practically all kinds of flora and fauna fully degraded and disappeared.

By today a complex set of not only environmental, but also socio-economic and demographic problems, that have planetary-scale consequences, has emerged in the area adjacent to Aral. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon became convinced of this during his travel to the Aral Sea area earlier this year.

Because of the ongoing drying up of the Aral Sea and unfolding humanitarian catastrophe around it, today’s most important task is to preserve the natural biological pool of the area adjacent to Aral, reduce the disastrous impacts of the Aral crisis on the environment, and most importantly, on the life of hundreds of thousands and millions of people living there.

It is necessary to take into consideration that the area around the Aral Sea is supplied with water at the expense of the watercourses of the two main rivers – Amudarya and Syrdarya, and any decrease of the watercourse of these rivers means a radical disturbance of the existing fragile environmental balance in the entire vast region.

And in these conditions any attempts to implement projects drafted 30-40 years ago, yet in the Soviet period, to construct in the upper stream of these rivers the large-scale hydropower facilities with gigantic dams, and moreover, if to take into account that the seismicity of the area of forthcoming construction makes up 8-9 points, - all of these may inflict an irreparable damage to environment and will be a reason for the most dangerous man-caused catastrophes which we have been witnessing for over the last years.

As many international ecological organizations and respected experts recommend, it would be much more rational to switch to building less dangerous, but more economical small Hydropower Stations to have on these rivers the same energy power generating capacities.

The problems of the drying up Aral Sea are the problems of millions of people living in this region, who hope for assistance and appeal to such a high-profile organization as the United Nations.
Mr. Chairman!

Taking this opportunity, I would like to very briefly inform the Summit about the concrete steps made by Uzbekistan on the way to achieve the goals set in the Millennium Declaration.

Only 19 years have passed since the time when the Republic of Uzbekistan became an independent state and joined the ranks of full-fledged members of the United Nations.

For over the years of independent development Uzbekistan with its one-sided hypertrophied, raw-based economy, destructive monopoly of cotton raw production, primitive production and social infrastructure and low per capita consumption level secured achievements which have entirely changed its image and place in the world community.

During these years the gross domestic product grew for 3.5 times and in per capita – for 2.5 times, the average salary – for 14 times. The expenditures of the state for social sphere and social protection have grown for more than 5 times. Annually, over 50 percent of the State budget is channeled to the social sphere.

At the moment, provision of the population with pure drinking water reached 82.5 percent and natural gas – 83.5 percent. The resolute steps have been made to radically reform and develop the healthcare system, liquidate and considerably reduce the gravest infectious diseases.

The maternal mortality level has decreased for more than 2 times and the child mortality – for 3 times. The average life expectancy of people during this period has increased from 67 to 73 years, and of women – up to 75 years. Today 48 percent of all employed in the country are women.

Despite the serious impact of the global financial and economic crisis, Uzbekistan among few states in the world maintains stably high growth rates of economy and a reliable financial and banking system.

Thus, for over 2008-2009 the growth rates of economy made up 9 and 8.1 percent, respectively, and this year this index is expected at the level of 8.5 percent. The external state debt does not exceed 10 percent of the GDP.

Our own model of democratization of the country, transition to socially oriented free market economy adopted yet in the early years of our independence served as a foundation of these achievements. This model is based on such principles as stripping economy of an ideological bias and its priority over politics, assigning state the role of a main reformer, ensuring rule of law, conducting strong social policy, and providing consistency and gradualness in implementing reforms.

From the onset we have denied the methods of shock therapy and deceptive ideas about self-regulation of market economy imposed on us, chose the evolutionary approach in the transition from administrative-command towards market system of management, while acting in line with the principle: “do not destroy the old house, until you build a new one”, as well as “reforms are not for the sake of reforms, but for a man”.

I would like to especially underscore an enormous role and significance, which the educational process and growth of people’s consciousness are acquiring in all these transformations.

In Uzbekistan the annual expenditures for education make up 10-12 percent of the GDP, while this indicator does not exceed 3-5 percent in the world practice. The unique National program for personnel training has been implemented in the country. From 2009 mandatory 12-year education was introduced.

Uzbekistan sees its most important perspective in joining the ranks of the developed states in the world, continuing and deepening political, economic reforms and modernizing the country, developing civil society and on this basis ensuring worthy living standards for its citizens.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that Uzbekistan supports the Global action plan on accelerating progress in achieving the Millennium development goals, proposed by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and intends to take the most active part in its implementation.
 

Thank you for your attention. 

Uzbekistan is a sovereign democratic state of secular nature. This proposition is enshrined in the main law of the state – the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which states: “Religious organizations and associations shall be separated from the state and equal before law. The state shall not interfere with the activity of religious associations” (Article 61).

The country has adopted a Law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations”, which provides equal legal conditions for coexistence of various religious confessions.

Proceeding from requirements of the Vienna Declaration, guarantees of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan and with an aim of ensuring interethnic accord and inter-confessional solidarity one of the main priorities in reforming our society became ensuring and protecting rights and freedoms of citizens, enshrined in our Constitution, and their equality before law irrespective of race, sex, nationality, language, social origin, creed, religion, personal and social status.

At the moment, there are 2226 religious organization of 16 various confessions in Uzbekistan. Of them Muslim organizations comprise 2051, Christian organizations –159, Jewish communes – 8, Baha’i communes – 6, society of Krishna –1 and Buddhist temple – 1.

The state registration of religious organizations is carried out in accordance with a Resolution by the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan “On the Procedure of State Registration of Religious Organizations in the Republic of Uzbekistan” dated June 20, 1998. According to provisions of registration of religious organizations envisaged in this Resolution, there are no limitations in the number of religious organizations or terms of their activities.

It is also necessary to note that Part 3 of Article 5 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” bans actions directed to converting believers of any confession into another confession (proselytism), and any other missionary activity.

Despite dominance of Muslim organizations, other confessions, including Christian ones, do not have any restrictions on their activity in the country.

Testament to this is the fact that while prior May 1, 1998 there were 132 Christian religious organizations and one Bible Society registered in Uzbekistan, today their number has increased to 159 (including 2 educational institutions – Orthodox and Protestant seminaries).

Along with religious holidays of other confessions, Christian Easter and Christmas are ever-widely celebrated from year to year in the country. Christians of Uzbekistan are provided with the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to the holy places in Russia, Greece and Israel. During the years of Independence the Bible Society of Uzbekistan translated and published in the Uzbek language 16 books of the Old and the whole New Covenants.

Dozens of churches and prayer houses have been built or renovated in the country during the years of Independence. Among them – the Orthodox churches in Tashkent, Samarkand and Navoi, Catholic church in Tashkent, Armenian Apostolic Church in Samarkand.

Many activities are carried out in Uzbekistan according to which we can verify that the country not only in words but in action is complying with its international obligations in the sphere of religious freedom.

For instance, in 1995 the Muslim-Christian conference entitled “Living Together in Harmony” was held in Tashkent. The representatives of the World Council of Churches and a number of foreign churches attended the forum.

In 2000 there was held a major international conference “World religions on the path of culture and peace” in Tashkent attended by the delegations of world’s leading religious organizations.
Important dates related to the activities of Christian organizations were widely celebrated in the country.

Particularly, in November 1996 there were held celebrations devoted to 125 anniversary of the Tashkent and Central Asian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. In celebration of this date the late Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II came to Central Asia for the first time in the history of the Church.

In December the same year, the Evangelical-Lutheran congregation celebrated 100-year anniversary of the only Central Asian Lutheran Church.

In 2001 the Tashkent and Central Asian diocese celebrated its 130-year anniversary.

In 2002 the Roman Catholic Church celebrated 100 years of the revival of Catholicism in Central Asia.

In October 2003 Samarkand hosted the events to mark the 100-year anniversary of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

For the complete coverage of the Republic’s religious life a number of newspapers and magazines are being issued, including such Christian publications as the “The Word of Life” newspaper, “East from Above” Journal, etc.

For the close cooperation with religious organizations, assisting in the activity of various confessions, joint development of proposals and measures for interreligious and interethnic peace and accord in society, development of interfaith dialogue culture there has been created a Council for confessions under the Committee on Religious Affairs.

It consists of the heads of Board of Muslims of Uzbekistan, Tashkent and Central Asian Diocese of the ROC, the Roman Catholic Church, the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Center of Full Gospel Churches, Evangelical Lutheran Church, and Jewish community of Tashkent.

The issues of ensuring the compliance with the Law of the Republic, rights of the religious organizations and believers, as well as other vital issues are openly and actively discussed at the meetings held by the Council for confessions.

Experts in the country and abroad have concluded that today the population of Uzbekistan practicing a particular religion is provided with a required number of religious organizations and granted every opportunity to perform religious rites.
 

Press-Service of MFA
Republic of Uzbekistan

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, who participated in the high-level plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly on Millennium Development Goals in New York, met the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Angela Merkel on 21 September.

The head of the state said that Germany was one of the reliable partners of Uzbekistan in Europe and that the relations between the two countries were developing consistently in all spheres.

Germany and Uzbekistan have established strong political, economic and cultural ties. Many bilateral visits at various levels serve for further development of mutual relations between the two states. Germany fully supports efforts of Uzbekistan to democratize various spheres of life in the country.

Uzbekistan and Germany closely cooperate in strengthening regional security and stability. The development of relations between the two countries is contributes to expanding mutually beneficial cooperation between Uzbekistan and the European Union.

During the conversation, Angela Merkel and Islam Karimov exchanged views on further expansion of cooperation between Germany and Uzbekistan and other issues of mutual interest.
On the same day, President of Uzbekistan met the Prime Minister of Belgium Yves Leterme at the UN Headquarters.

Belgium is one of the reliable partners of Uzbekistan in Western Europe, Islam Karimov pointed out. The relations between the two countries are gradually developing in political, trade-economic and humanitarian spheres.

Uzbekistan and Belgium have active relations between the parliaments, foreign and defense ministries and security bodies, as well as institutions of higher education.

Representatives of Belgian parliament, members of “Uzbekistan-Belgium” inter-parliamentary cooperation group regularly attend international forums in Uzbekistan. The foreign ministries of the two countries hold consultations to discuss critical issues of bilateral relations. Uzbekistan and Belgium also actively interact in the promotion of regional cooperation.

In the economic sphere, Uzbekistan and Belgium enjoy the most favorable conditions regime. Uzbekistan exports to Belgium cotton, textiles, products of inorganic chemistry and other goods. Belgium supplies Uzbekistan with mechanical equipment, pharmaceuticals, plastics, rubber and other items.

In 1999, the Walloon Agency for Export and Foreign Investment (AWEX) opened its representative office in Tashkent. Commerce and Industry Chamber of Uzbekistan and Chamber of Commerce of West Flanders of Belgium had signed a memorandum of cooperation. In the recent years, a series of business forums and meetings devoted to enhancing bilateral cooperation were held in Tashkent and Brussels.

In the framework of cultural cooperation, exhibitions on the 2750th anniversary of Samarkand and the 2000th anniversary of Marhilan were organized in Belgium. In 1999, Uzbekistan and Belgium friendship society was created. In 2004, the Belgian-Uzbek cultural center Dostlik was opened.

At the meeting, Yves Leterme said Belgium valued cooperation with Uzbekistan. He emphasized that the favorable investment environment in Uzbekistan served to increasing the interest of Belgian entrepreneurs in Uzbek businesses.

During the meeting, the sides discussed Uzbek-Belgian relations and other issues of mutual interest.

President of Uzbekistan also met President of Hungary Pal Schmitt at the UN Headquarters.
Uzbekistan and Hungary are linked with ties of mutual trust and commitment, as well as spiritual closeness of the peoples, Islam Karimov said.

The two countries have been developing relations in the political sphere. Uzbekistan and Hungary have similar or close views and approaches to mutual cooperation, and issues of regional and international importance.

Uzbekistan and Hungary are reliable business partners. The two countries have signed important documents on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation, mutual protection and promotion of investments, avoidance of double taxation and others.

Eximbank of Hungary has decided to allocate a credit to Uzbekistan worth USD 50 million. These funds will be used to finance projects of providing clinics with medical equipment, introduction of energy-saving technologies in urban infrastructure, reconstruction of treatment facilities at oil refineries and other fields.

In the humanitarian sphere, Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan cooperate with a number of Hungarian organizations in the fields of materials science, microelectronics, instrumentation and pharmacology.

At the meeting, Pal Schmitt said that Hungary was interested in developing relations with Uzbekistan in all spheres. The sides discussed prospects of cooperation between Uzbekistan and Hungary and other issues of mutual interest.

President Islam Karimov also received senior vice president of the corporation Boeing Marty Bentrott.

The head of the state said that Boeing has become one of the reliable partners of Uzbekistan in the sphere of aviation and aircraft building. The relations with the corporation go beyond delivery of planes and cover areas like improving flight safety and passenger service, aircraft maintenance and repairs, as well as training specialists.

The Uzbekistan Airways company has been cooperating with Boeing since 1995. To date, the national airline has purchased 11 Boeing aircraft. Uzbekistan Airways Technics enterprise conducts maintenance of not only domestic, but also foreign aircrafts.

In accordance with the agreement between Uzbekistan Airways and Boeing Corporation, the latter will deliver to Uzbekistan four Boeing-767-300ER planes in 2011-2013. In 2016, the fleet of the national air carrier will receive two Boeing-787-8 liners.

During the meeting, Marty Bentrott noted that Boeing was interested in progressive development of cooperation with Uzbekistan Airways.

The sides exchanged views on matters relating to further expansion of cooperation in the field of aviation and aircraft maintenance.
 

www.uza.uz

 

International Forum of Central Asian Industrial Week started in Uzexpocenter. International exhibitions Power Uzbekistan-2010, Mining World Uzbekistan-2010, Metallurgy. Mechanical Engineering – MCA-2010 open in Tashkent in the framework of the Central Asian Industrial Week. The event has been organized by the ministries of trade, agriculture and water resources, State Geology and Mineral Resources Committee, companies Uzbekenergo and Uzsuvenergo, Tashkent city administration and international companies ITE Uzbekistan – a member of UFI, ITE Exhibitions & Conferences Ltd.

Opening of the forum, acting chairman of the State Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources J.Turamuradov noted that reforms carried out for modernization of industrial enterprises, introduction of new technologies and improvement of investment environment were giving notable results.

The country is continuously increasing the volumes of industrial production. As a result, macroeconomic stability is strengthening.

About 100 companies from nearly 20 countries such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, China, USA, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Finland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Ukraine, Poland, Denmark and Norway are offering their products and services at the exhibitions. Large domestic enterprises such as Power Machines, Neuhaus DG, Uzelektroapparat-elektroshit, Chirchik Transformer Plant are among them.

The Central Asian Industrial Week and the exhibitions will serve as a tool for attracting foreign investment in Uzbekistan and further development of key industries.
 

www.uza.uz

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov held negotiations with high-level representatives of General Motors, Sikorsky Aircraft and Honeywell companies in New York, US on 20 September.

At the talks with deputy chairman of General Motors Thomas Stephens, Islam Karimov said that Uzbekistan was dynamically developing the car industry, and the cooperation with the GM had a great importance in this aspect.

Over the short span of time since GM entered the automobile industry of Uzbekistan, several new models of cars were launched at the plant in Asaka, Andijan region.

This August, GM Uzbekistan started production of a new model called Spark. The annual capacity is 50,000 cars, almost half of which will be exported.

Having become an important part of the GM’s global network, the Uzbek automobile sector has been strengthening its positions on the foreign markets.

Cooperation with GM also plays an important part in attracting foreign investments for new projects in the car production industry, Islam Karimov said.

Thomas Stephens said General Motors highly valued its cooperation with Uzbekistan and was interested in further expansion of the relations.

The leader of Uzbekistan also met Jeffrey Pino, president of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., which is one of the leaders in aircraft production.

Islam Karimov and Jeffrey Pino considered issues of expansion of mutual cooperation. Head of Sikorsky Aircraft said his company was interested in cooperation with Uzbekistan.

President Islam Karimov then received David Cote, chairman and CEO of Honeywell. The head of the state said Uzbekistan could become a link for the American corporation in entering new market.
Uzbekistan is interested in attracting Honeywell technologies and investments in order to open new modern sectors of economy.

David Cote said Uzbekistan is a country with high intellectual potential and rich mineral resources, and Honeywell sees broad perspectives for cooperation with the country.

The sides discussed issues of expansion of cooperation with Honeywell, including development of joint projects.
 

www.uza.uz

 

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov met with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at UN headquarters in New York. Prior to the talks, the head of our state had made a record in the book of honorary guests of the UN. “There is a growing interest of the UN to Uzbekistan and Central Asian states,” said Islam Karimov.   “We highly appreciate the cooperation with UN in ensuring peace and stability in our region, strengthening security, combating drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and other threats, addressing environmental problems and efficient use of water and energy resources.”

Strong ties have been established between Uzbekistan and UN agencies such as UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, World Health Organization, and this cooperation is actively developing, President Karimov noted. Uzbekistan cooperates with the UN in many areas. The agenda of mutual relations, in addition to security issues, environment, economic development, education and health also includes issues such as reforming UN and enhancement efficiency of its bodies.

The Republic of Uzbekistan proposes to consolidate different UN structures in the country to a single representation. This will lead to effective coordination which only contributes to further development and intensification of the cooperation between Uzbekistan and UN.

The UN highly appreciates the cooperation with Uzbekistan, and pays special attention to relations with the country and the whole Central Asian region, Ban Ki-moon noted during the meeting.

The sides exchanged views on issues of the further development of relations between Uzbekistan and UN.

www.uza.uz

 

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov on the invitation of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, took part in the UN General Assembly high-level plenary session on Millennium Development Goals in New York. The head of our state spoke at the summit. The relations between Uzbekistan and the United Nations cover a wide range of issues. Uzbekistan became a member of UN in 1992.   Since then, Uzbekistan has had a consistent cooperation with UN in the fight against the threats and challenges to peace and stability, prevention of environmental problems and development of social and economic issues. In 2002, the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited Uzbekistan.

In April of 2010, the current Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon paid a visit to Uzbekistan. During his stopover, the UN Secretary-General first visited the Aral Sea region and was directly acquainted with the environmental crisis, which adversely impacted the entire world. It became important factor to strengthen the world’s attention to the environmental problems of Central Asia.

Declaration on Cooperation between the UN Secretariat and Shanghai Cooperation Organization was signed within the visit of Ban Ki-Moon, becoming the key factor in expanding the participation of these two structures to activate the integration processes in Central Asia, strengthening the regional security.

The initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on giving the Central Asia the status of nuclear weapons free zone was widely supported by the UN, who’s been striving to unite the world community for strengthening the peace and stability and preventing the spread of nuclear weapon.

The UN also appreciates and supports the initiatives of Uzbekistan in the joint fight against terrorism, extremism, separatism and drug trafficking, as well as stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan, expanding international cooperation in this direction.

During his speech at the UN, President Karimov highlighted the activities undertaken in Uzbekistan in the framework of MDG, the country’s cooperation with UN, the issues of regional security and environment in Central Asia and the situation in Afghanistan.

Uzbek President noted that the wars and conflicts on the example of Afghanistan prevented the solution of international problems. Islam Karimov also stressed the need to stabilize the situation in this country by providing economic aid and implementing social, humanitarian and infrastructure projects. At the same time, the centuries-old traditions and values of the people of Afghanistan should be honored, the president said.

The environmental protection is essential in achieving the MDG, Uzbek President noted during his speech. Over the past 40 years, Aral Sea shrunk to seven times and its water volume decreased by 13 times. Given that the Aral Sea region is provided with water by Amudarya and Sirdarya rivers, the decline of water level in them would worsen an already difficult environmental situation.

The proposals and initiatives addressed Uzbek President were received with great interest by the participants of the session of UN General Assembly.
 

www.uza.uz

 

Uzbek gymnast Anton Fokin won at the international Gymnastics Tournament, held in Minsk, Belarus. Along with the hosts, athletes from Uzbekistan, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Norway and Israel fought for the victory in the event. In the men’s all-around, Anton Fokin earned 88,200 points, leaving behind his main opponents Dmitriy Savitskiy of Belarus and Alexander Shatilov of Israel and won the gold medal. Fokin scored the highest mark in the exercises on the bars and won the gold medal. He also won silver medal in the exercises on the ring. www.uza.uz

Within the framework of the Information and Communication Technologies Week 2010, a charity event Information Technology for Children was held in Tashkent. It was aimed to provide children with further access to the latest information technologies and knowledge or the area.

The sponsors of the event Nokia Siemens Networks Tashkent company provided computers for a class in the school number 259 of Tashkent, and TPS company provided free internet access.

 According to the sponsors, the specialists of companies will hold open lessons on ICT within a year and familiarize children with various web resources as well as advice on finding of the necessary and useful information and using them.

The spacious room is equipped with 10 modern computers and multifunction devices (printer-copier-scanner), projector and other necessary accessories. This class will help create a learning environment, which is based on information and communication technologies (ICT) to promote the creative potential of pupils.

According to the director of the school Irina Tokareva, today the quality of training largely depends on the use of ICT in the educational process. Now, the pupils can use ICT to access the information and use it for educational purposes.
 

www.uza.uz

Japan is one of the most active trade and investment partners of Uzbekistan. The relationship between the two countries has been consistently developing in the frame the Declaration of Friendship, strategic partnership and cooperation signed in 2002. Japan has been widely supporting the progressive reforms implemented in Uzbekistan.

Many Japanese companies and organizations cooperate with Uzbekistan. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), opened its office in Tashkent in 1999, and has been working closely with Uzbekistan in many areas.

The members of the press tour, organized by the agency for media workers, were acquainted with JICA projects being implemented in Uzbekistan in the frame of grants, technical assistance and favorable loans.

Within the current JICA project on “Improvement of equipment of rehabilitation and prosthetic center for disabled,” 59 types of medical equipment were delivered to the center.

The media tour participants were also familiarized with the implementation of joint project on granting a $1.5 million USD loan for procurement of equipment for Kensoy professional college for fruit and vegetable processing and juice production as well as attraction of specialist to the Ferghana branch of Tashkent University of Information Technologies.

“Uzbekistan’s economy is developing gradually and consistently,” said deputy head of JICA missionto Uzbekistan Oki Sugimoto. “The reforms implemented under the leadership of President Islam Karimov give significant results. In future, we intend to develop and implement a lot of promising projects with Uzbekistan.”
 

www.uza.uz

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, on his way to New York to attend the high-level plenary session of the UN on Millennium Development Goals, made a stop in London, Great Britain.

There, the head of our country met with the chairman of the Society of Friendship Britain-Uzbekistan, co-chairman of Uzbek-British Trade and Industry Council Hartley Booth and chairman of Britain-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Group John Waverley.

Islam Karimov said the development of Uzbek-British relations, in particular, the regularity of the two foreign ministries consultations, enhancing mutual visits of delegations of the supreme legislative bodies, the expansion of cooperation between academia and business.

During the meeting, Islam Karimov emphasized the development of Uzbek-British relations, particularly, the regularity of consultations between the two foreign ministries, mutual visits of delegations of the supreme legislative bodies and expansion of cooperation between academic and business circles.

“Uzbekistan is open for cooperation with the British Government, the potential that re-opens today, will soon be implemented. Your work creates a good climate to the people of your country to be more aware of Uzbekistan,” said Islam Karimov.

Also, Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom cooperate on a multilateral basis in the promotion of regional security and the stabilization of situation in Afghanistan.

Such activities like the organization of regular consultations of foreign ministries, the visit of the delegation of the Britain-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Group, to be held in Westminster International University in Tashkent, the international scientific conference on environmental protection and rational use of water of trans-boundary rivers will take place this year.

The next session of Uzbek-British Trade and Industry Council will be held at the end of 2010. It will consider the expansion of cooperation in the agricultural industry. Uzbekistan has extensive experience in agriculture. The Institutes of Plants and Ecology Studies of Great Britain are considered one of the leading research centers in the world. In the long term, the cooperation in this direction will be further enhanced.

The United Kingdom is one of the major trade partners of Uzbekistan in Europe. About 200 joint ventures in cooperation with British investors operate in Uzbekistan and over 50 British companies have their representative offices.

UK-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Group contributes to the establishment and development of cooperation between different organizations and agencies of the two countries, strengthening the legal and regulatory framework to expand political relations, trade, economic and investment cooperation.

During the meeting, Hartley Booth noted that there was a deep symbolic meaning in the fact that President Islam Karimov stopped in London and presented the message of British Prime Minister David Cameron to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

David Cameron stated that the UK greatly valued the cooperation with Uzbekistan. “I know that a number of major British investors are interested in implementing large projects in Uzbekistan.”

The the next session of the Uzbek-British Trade and Industry Council raise the trade relations between the two countries to a new higher level, Cameron said in his letter.

The sides also exchanged views on the issues of trade, economic and parliamentary relations between Uzbekistan and UK.
 

www.uza.uz

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov on the invitation of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will participate in the high-level plenary session of the General Assembly on Millennium Development Goals on 20-21 September in New York.

www.uza.uz

The Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan held a regular session on 15-16 September in Tashkent.

On September 16, the report on the State budget of Uzbekistan for the first half of 2010 was presented to the Legislative Chamber by M. Mirzaev, the deputy Minister of Finance and B. Iminov, the chairman of the Committee on Budget and Economic Affairs.

The control over the execution of the main financial document is one of the most important responsibilities of Parliament, so members of the lower chamber of Oliy Majlis have always paid particular attention to it.

The report was tentatively discussed at the meetings of the committees, factions of political parties and the parliamentary group of the Environmental Movement of Uzbekistan with representatives of the Ministry of Finance, heads of other ministries and departments. During preliminary discussions, current socio-economic issues and the course of anti-crisis program implementation as well as the issues of social aid to population, funding for health, education culture and other spheres were highlighted.

It was emphasized that during the reporting period the state budget was executed in accordance with the parameters previously approved by both chambers of Oliy Majlis and priorities of socio-economic development of the country for 2010, launched by President Karimov at the Cabinet’s meeting in January 2010.

Comprehensive preliminary review of the report in the committees of the Legislative Chamber and the parliamentary factions of political parties allowed deputies protect the interests of their constituents and party programs and develop a clear coherent position on the discussion.
During the Chamber meeting the views of all factions of political parties including Environmental Movement of Uzbekistan were heard.

The representatives from the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen of Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan noted that the State Budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the first half was fulfilled with surplus. The continuation of an active investment policy provided an increase of foreign direct investment compared to the same period of last year.

Approved by the Cabinet of Ministers the measures to further support small business and private enterprise had increased the number of registered small enterprises compared to the beginning of the year. Also, the reduction of tax burden and increase of bank loans to private business entities positively impacted the intensive development of small businesses.

The members from the faction of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan drew attention to the fact country’s state budget in the first half was filled with a clear social orientation – health, education, culture and sport spheres and the State Program The Year of Harmoniously Developed Generation were financed in time.

The deputies noted that the program on creation of new jobs, adopted by Oliy Majlis had been carried out a head of schedule. More than 509.4 thousand new jobs, of which over 350.1 thousand in rural areas, were created during the reporting period.

Considerable proportion of these jobs was created in the small business and private entrepreneurship field, including the sphere of services. The implementation of the measures on the further improvement of maternity and childcare and the development of preventive healthcare had been carried out in the country. Over half of the budget during the reporting period spent on the development of the social sphere.

The members of the faction of the Democratic Party of Uzbekistan Milly Tiklanish stressed the importance of timely financing of homes and palaces of culture, museums, theaters, libraries and other institutions of spiritual and educational arenas that play a huge role in reviving and preserving centuries-old spiritual and moral values of people, educating the young generation in the spirit of patriotism and devotion to the ideas of independence and democracy.

Particular attention was paid to the timely provision of educational institutions, science and training. The cost of public education institutions amounted to 1.6 trillion soums. At the same time, over 17.4 billion soums were allocated for winter clothing to students from low-income families at secondary schools and school accessories for first-graders.

The members of the faction of the Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan Adolat noted that during the reporting period Uzbekistan was able to successfully confront the threats and challenges of the global financial crisis as well sustain the economic and social development.

The representatives of the Environmental Movement of Uzbekistan stressed that the success Uzbekistan in socio-economic development was made possible largely due to the successfully conducted technical modernization and renewal of leading branches of industry, which contributed not only to the increase of productivity and reduce of product cost, but also, to environmental protection and improvement of the ecological environment in several parts of Uzbekistan.

Having heard and considered the views of representatives of all factions of political parties and the parliamentary group of the Environmental Movement of Uzbekistan, the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis approved the report on the State budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the first half of 2010 and adopted the relevant resolution.

Within the session, the deputies also reviewed the laws in draft, aimed at further deepening the reforms in the political, social and economic areas.
 

www.uza.uz

The traditional Art Week Style.Uz will take place in Tashkent from 9 through 14 October.
The main objective of a week of art is to support young people, who effectively work in different areas of fashion and art, and create opportunities to exchange views and experiences of representatives of the sphere.

The program the event includes activities related to art, fashion and clothing design, as well as the Theatre Festival and actions aimed at social support of women.

Within the frame of the fashion week, exhibitions of national and international artists, photographers, fashion shows of the leading Uzbek designers and foreign fashion houses will be held. Also, the festival of national costumes, the show of young designers, master classes, art-related meetings and conferences are planned to take place during the art week.

In addition, the famous designers from the US, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Switzerland and Russia will present their fashion shows.

“This annual event attracts attention of art lovers of our country and foreigners as well,” said chairman of the fashion designers association of Uzbekistan Holida Komilova. “The representatives of a number of foreign fashion houses and famous fashion designers will participate at the art week.

The round tables and conferences on the role and importance of fashion in social life, the current issues of historical and cultural heritage will be held within the framework of the week.
 

www.uza.uz

 

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov met with Datuk Shamsul Azhar Abbas, president of Malaysian Petronas, on 16 September in Oqsaroy. Welcoming the guest, the head our state stressed the sustained and steadfast development of our country’s relations with Petronas. ”We are earnestly glad to welcome you in Tashkent, and in your person I would like to express my sincere respect to the leadership of Malaysia and all the Malaysian people with whom we have enjoyed friendly relations.

One of the greatest achievements of Malaysia, in our opinion, is a balanced and well-thought-out nature of policies implemented in many spheres of nation’s life which, in turn, deserves close study,” Islam Karimov said.

In the course of Petronas leadership’s visit to our country, a production sharing agreement has been signed to develop the Gajak field in Boysun district of Surkhondaryo region, meaning that the work switches to a stage of direct development. During the meeting at Oqsaroy, Datuk Shamsul Azhar Abbas expressed his sincere gratitude to the head of our state for the warm welcome and pointed out Petronas’ interest in enhancing its investment cooperation with Uzbekistan.

Implementation of existing projects and joint elaboration of prospective programs have been discussed at the talk.

www.uza.uz
 

Tashkent hosted an international round table on “Uzbekistan and the UN Millennium Development Goals: Progress and Prospects.”

Organized by the National Center for Human Rights of Uzbekistan, Institute for the Study of Civil Society in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme in Uzbekistan, the event gathered the members of the Senate, deputies of Oliy Majlis, representatives of various ministries and agencies, international organizations, experts and scholars.

The director of National Center for Human Rights A. Saidov, director of the Institute for Civil Society Studies M. Usmanov stressed that large-scale reforms, being implemented in Uzbekistan under the leadership of President Karimov to build a democratic state and strong civil society, economic liberalization, increase of welfare of the people, have produced notable results. Measures aimed at ensuring the rights and freedoms of a person in Uzbekistan, serve to further deepen the democratic, social, economic and political reforms.

Held in the country of reform are important factor for large-scale implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. In particular, the National program for cadres training allows you to transition to a twelve-year continuous education system, root and branch reform and improve the quality of education, training highly qualified personnel.

Radical reforms undertaken in the health sector are an important factor in improving public health, the full system upgrade health services, creating the highest of standards for hospitals providing public emergency medical services, improving the quality and scope of medical services.

“I participated in hearings at the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis on a course of performance of the UN Millennium Goals in Uzbekistan,” said the regional director of U.S. National Democratic Institute Clark Plexico. “I’d like to emphasize that Uzbekistan is a country which chose a right path of development. The national legislative framework for the protection of personal, social, economic, political and cultural rights of citizens is fully formed in your country.”

During the round table discussions, it was noted that protection of human rights and interests in Uzbekistan were fully complied with international legal norms and it was a priority direction of social development, nation building, domestic and foreign policy.

Such areas as economics, education and environment have been consistently developed in Uzbekistan, the Resident Representative of the UNDP in Uzbekistan Anita Nirody stressed during the discussion. She also highlighted the results of large-scale reforms implemented in the protection of the rights and lawful interests of citizens.

“Over a short period Uzbekistan achieved tremendous success in building a democratic state and civil society,” Nirody said. “The timely adoption of crisis program in Uzbekistan and its compliance with existing conditions and the focus have served an important factor in overcoming the negative effects of the global economic crisis.”

The reports on the implementation of UN Millennium Development Goals in Uzbekistan and their organizational and legal foundations were presented during the meeting. The sides exchanged views on further development of women’s social activities, strengthening the ecological stability, further development of the education system, etc.

www.uza.uz

The meeting of the Board of Trustees of Kamolot Public Youth Movement was organized in Tashkent.

The progress of implementation of decisions taken at previous meetings, the work of the Central Council and the primary structures of the movement for the past period this year, ways to solve existing problems were discussed at the meeting.

The board members presented reports on the practical assistance to local authorities in the establishment of conditions for education of harmoniously developed generation.

The board also approved the program for youth to attend the Ancient and Eternal Bukhara Complex, constructed on the initiative of President Karimov as well as holding various youth related activities on the site of the complex.

The Ministry of Culture and Sports of Uzbekistan is tasked to develop and implement special programs for setting the stage at the regional Drama Theatre, erected on the premises of Bukhara Cultural Center.

The Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education and the Academy of Science of Uzbekistan are tasked to develop cooperation with leading scientists and a special guide on the historical monuments of Bukhara.
 

www.uza.uz

 

After winning the gold medal in judo world championship in Tokyo, Uzbek athlete Rishod Sobirov contributed to the fact that the national team of Uzbekistan got place in the team event among the five strongest. Upon arrival, the athletes were met with the representatives of relevant ministries and departments, sports public, media and sports fans at the Tashkent International Airport.   848 judoist men and women from 111 countries competed at the championship in Tokyo for 16 sets of medals and rating points, to qualify to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Only the athletes from six counties – Uzbekistan, Japan, France, Greece, South Korea and USA – won the gold medals in the World Cup.

In the weight category of 60 kg, Rishad Sabirov won Yanislav Gerchev from Bulgaria, Zhang Ming Jin from South Korea, Ali Khosrav and Elio Verde from Yemen and Beslan Mudranov from Russia. In the final meeting the Uzbek wrestler defeated the reigning world champion Georgiy Zantariya from Ukraine and was awarded the honorary title of the world champion.

“I was very proud to rise to the top of the podium and see the flag of Uzbekistan raised and our national anthem heard in honour of my victory,” said the world champion Rishod Sobirov.

“The high achievements of our athletes in the international arena are the result of President Islam Karimov’s sustained attention towards raising physically and spiritually developed generation in our country.”

Rishod Sobirov is a winner of Asian Championship among Youth of 2006. A year later he won the second place in the championship of the continent among adults. He also won gold medals on Kurash and Judo at the Tashkent University Games in 2007 and the Andijan Universiade in 2010.

Having won the bronze medal of Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, Rishod entered into a series of strongest judo athletes of the world. In 2009 he won the first place at the Grand Prix tournament in Germany and third place in the competitions in the UAE. And this season, he won the first place in the world ranking by winning the gold medal at World Master tournament in South Korea and Grand Prix competitions in Tunisia, as well as one gold and two silver medals at the Grand Slam in Russia, France and Brazil.

According to the rules of the International Judo Federation, judoka should gain rating points within four years to participate in the London Olympic Games. The victory in the World Cup strengthened Rishod’s position, who now occupies the first place in his weight category.
 

www.uza.uz

The winners of the Tashkent regional stage of the republican contest of Kelajak ovozi conducted by the Fund the Forum of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan and Kamolot Public Youth Movement were awarded in Tashkent.

Under the leadership of President Karimov a special attention is paid to the education of harmoniously developed generation, identification, support and encourage of young talents.

A number of prestigious awards, different competitions are yielding their tangible results.

As the prestige of the traditional republican contest Kelajak ovozi grows, a number of is participants expand by the year.

This year, more than 3,000 contestants participated in the district and city stages of the competition, demonstrating their skills in such categories like architecture and design, information technology and innovations, technical designs and development, fine arts and applied arts, literature and journalism.

The winners of the regional stage, 15 boys and girls, have the right to participate in the national phase of the competition.
 

www.uza.uz

 

At the initiative of President Karimov, the monument to Oybek, the people’s writer of Uzbekistan, opened in Tashkent at the national park of Uzbekistan named after Alisher Navoi. The monument to Oybek was constructed by the national artist of Uzbekistan, a sculptor Ravshan Mirtadjiyev. While working on a statue, the President Karimov made suggestions to find a point of spiritual contact with the image of Alisher Navoi. Established on the basis of this idea, Oybek is holding Alisher Navoi’s book in his hands and looking at the monument to the great ancestor.   Under the leadership of President Islam Karimov, a great attention is paid to the development of spirituality, culture, literature and art. The work of country’s outstanding writers and poets, scientists and artists, who have made a great contribution to the development of national literature and art, is highly praise.   Consistent and large-scale work is being done to perpetuate their memory, heritage conservation and study.

A striking case in point is that in the years of independence on the initiative of the President, group of poets and writers had been posthumously awarded the state’s highest awards, their anniversaries have been widely marked as well as the monuments to Gafur Gulom, Abdulla Kahhor and Zulfiya opened in Tashkent.

The event was opened by the Hero of Uzbekistan, national poet Abdulla Oripov. The representatives of government and public organizations, poets and writers, fans of literature, young students attended the ceremony.

During his speech, State Adviser to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan H. Sultanov stressed that in such works like “High spirituality – an invincible force,” “Attention to literature – the attention to spirituality, the future,” President Islam Karimov praised the role of literature and the representatives of this sphere in society. In his books, the president refers with special respect to the memory of Oybek, who made a great contribution to the development of spirituality, literature and culture of Uzbek people with his outstanding works.

In 2001, in accordance with the decree of the President Karimov, Oybek was awarded “Buyuk Hizmatlari Uchun” (“For Outstanding Service”) order. In his book “The attention to literature – the attention to spirituality, the future”, our head of state, showing a high respect for the writer, says that when it comes to poets, we can not help recalling the great Alisher Navoi, when it comes to writers, we primarily think of Abdulla Kodiriy and Oybek, who have devoted not only a unique talent, but their entire life to the people and motherland.

Islam Karimov in his writings expressed his opinion about the personality, multifaceted works of Oybek, who masterfully created the image of our great ancestor Alisher Navoi. Oybek lived in a difficult period, his works made a huge contribution to the development of Uzbek literature. Among his books, there are a number works written in poetic, prosaic, scientific and journalistic genres.

However, with one novel “Navoi” Oybek occupies a special place in spirituality, literature and culture of our people. That’s why we call Oybek the great Uzbek classic writer, notes the head of the country.

The writer’s niece Muhabbat Tashmuhamedova spoke at the opening ceremony on behalf of family members, relatives and friends and expressed sincere gratitude to President Islam Karimov for the high attention and reverence for the memory Oybek.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan A. Aripov and Tashkent city khokim A. Tuhtaev attended the ceremony.

www.uza.uz

 

The international medical exhibition InterMedPharm-2010 began its work at Uzexpocenter. It was organized by the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan, Uzfarmsanoat state joint-stock trust company and TNT Productions, Inc. of the US. In accordance with the presidential decree “On main directions of further deepening the reforms and implementing the state program for the development of health” dated September 2007, Uzbekistan’s progressive reforms in the health sector strengthened the material and technical base of medical facilities, improving the delivery of public health services, it was noted during the opening ceremony of the event.

Along with local companies, over 40 companies from 25 countries including the UK, USA, Germany, Israel, India, Pakistan, Russia, Italy, Ukraine present their products and services during this three-day-event.

“This exhibition is a good opportunity to get acquainted with the achievements in the field of medicine and pharmacy, purchase of modern technologies,” said Rajabbuvi Imomberdieva, the head of Gulchehra private clinic in Chirchik city. “We’ve signed a contract for the procurement of the equipment to treat osteochondrosis without the use of medicines.”

Scientific conferences and seminars will be held within the framework of the exhibition.

www.uza.uz

Uzbek grandmaster Marat Djumaev, won the third place at the international chess tournament held in Kathmandu, Nepal.

About 50 players representing over 10 countries participated at the event, where Djumaev before the nineth round checkmated A. Radjbahak from Nepal, I. Luka from Romania, M. Javod from Bangladesh, N. Maisuradze from France and M. Venkatesh from India. He also played in a draw with G. Mohr from Slovenia.

In the final round, Djumaev played against the other Uzbek player S. Yuldashev, defeating him in an interesting match.

Grandmaster Saidali Yuldashev of Uzbekistan also successfully participated in the tournament beating K. Shrestha from Nepal, A. Hampariya, Sh Himanshu, P. Roy from India, and H. Mohr from Slovenia. He played a draw with Indian grandmaster J. Shriram and got into the ten strongest earning five and a half points.

www.uza.uz

The regional stage of the competition “The activities of young entrepreneurs – the major key to development of the village,” organized in collaboration of public youth movement Kamolot and the Open Joint-Stock Commercial Bank Asakabank, as well as the competition “Young Entrepreneur – with the support of the country” by an open joint-stock Commercial Bank of Microcreditbank of Commerce and Industry Chamber of Uzbekistan took place in Urgench.

In the State program “Year of harmonically developed generation,” the priority is given to the involvement of youth in small business and private entrepreneurship and support their activities.

Arranged for this purpose, the competitions provide young people with more opportunities to obtain soft loans and establish their businesses. Thirty young entrepreneurs presented their applications for participation in these competitions in Khorezm region.

During the training seminars on qualifying stage, the participants were provided with detailed information on entrepreneurship and its development, the ongoing government measures to support the sector.

The winners received the right to participate in the national stage of the competition.

www.uza.uz

A training seminar devoted to the issues of using Ziyonet network in educational institutions was held in Tashkent.

Organized by the Ministry of Public Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the workshop gathered together the specialists of information and resource centers as well as metropolitan schools, teachers of informatics and methodists.

The workshop highlighted the impact of ongoing under the leadership of President Islam Karimov’s extensive work to improve the quality and content of education, the introduction of the scope of advanced information and communication and educational technologies, improve the work of school resource centers. All of this is teaching children up to date as well as their upbringing in a spirit of love for the motherland and respect for national values.

“Around one thousand students are enrolled at our school,” said Marhabo Nazarova, the science teacher of secondary school № 273 of Yunusabad district. “Our Information Resource Center is connected to the Ziyonet network. “ It contributes to informative and exciting conducting of lessons, the awareness and use of scientific aids, texts of reports, lesson plans, etc.”

Education and information network ZiyoNET currently serves for enhancing, sustaining and strengthening the knowledge of young people on various subjects. At present, the network provides the information to the general public in the field of education reforms and assists to strengthen cooperation between the teaching staff and students.

www.uza.uz

 

The new monument and museum to Mirzo Ulugbek opened in Samarkand. Constructed by Ravshan Mirtadjiev, the national artist of Uzbekistan, the monument fully corresponds to museum’s modern look.   The panels depicting the sky with stars, located behind the memorial, complement the content of the composition.   This work has been created by the member of Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan Rustam Solijonov and his disciples.

In 1994, in connection with the 600th anniversary of Mirzo Ulugbek, extensive work took place on the restoration and improvement of observatory site. Observatory, built by Mirzo Ulugbek in 1428-1429 and equipped with sextant with a radius of 40.2 meters, would let scientists monitor the movement of thousands of stars, and differed from other observatories in the world with its high precision calculations.

In March, 2010, a large-scale construction work for a new museum building was launched on the territory of the observatory. The outside of the new museum and observatory are decorated with mosaics and majolica, while stairs were made of granite.

The exposition of a new museum was created by the Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Culture and Sports, Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan in accordance with modern requirements.

The exhibition consists of two parts and six divisions. The first part tells about the activities of Ulugbek – statesman, the second part – about his scientific work. The museum also has two touch screen computers, from which visitors can obtain information.
 

www.uza.uz

 

Uzbek judoka, Rishod Sobirov, the leader in the ranking of the International Judo Federation (IJF) has once again proved that he is the strongest in the weight category of 60 kg., defeating Yanislav Gerchev (Bulgaria), Zhang Jin Min (South Korea), Ali Khusraw (Yemen), the winner of the World Cup Elio Verde (Italy) and Beslan Mudranov (Russia) and reached the final. In the decisive match Sobirov overcame the reigning world champion Georgiy Zantariya (Ukraine) in the acute and uncompromising fight and won the gold medal of the championship. R. Sobirov, born in 1986 in Dzhandar district of Bukhara region, started practicing judo and Kurash when he was 11. As a potential athlete, he was revealed to senior level of three-sport system – Universiade. In 2007, at the competition among students in Tashkent, Rishod won gold medal on Judo and Kurash. The same year he took the second place on Asian Judo Championship.

In 2008 he won the national championship in Uzbekistan and won bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics.

After Beijing, Rishod gained recognition as one of the greatest judoka of the world, and since then the number of his victories increased at the prestigious competitions of the International Federation of judo.

This season, Uzbek judoka won gold medals in the competitions «World Masters» in South Korea and the Grand Prix in Tunisia, then gold and two silver medals in the competition “Grand Slam” in Russia, France and Brazil, and as a result rose the first place in world ranking. Along with these prestigious tournaments R. Sobirov won Kurash and judo in “Universiade – 2010” held in May this year in the city of Andijan.

Over 848 judokas from 111 countries fought in Tokyo for medals and rating points, which entitle them to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
 

www.uza.uz

Delegation headed by the member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Minister of Public Security of this country Le Hong Anh met the Minister of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhodir Matlyubov in Tashkent.

During the negotiations, it was noted that cooperation between Uzbekistan and Vietnam was developing in many directions, including the field of security.

At the talks, the sides considered issues of mutual cooperation in struggle against terrorism, separatism, extremism, drug trafficking and other organized transnational crimes, as well as strengthening security and stability.

The Vietnamese delegation also visited the State Museum of History of Temurids and familiarized with the exhibits about Amir Temur and his descendants.
 

www.uza.uz

An international conference on the role of the Ombudsman in building civil society in Uzbekistan was held in Tashkent on 9 September.

The forum was organized by Ombudsman office in conjunction with the project coordinator of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Uzbekistan.

The event was attended by members of the Senate and the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis, representatives of various ministries and departments, as well as institutions for protection of human rights from states like Sweden, France, Latvia, Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan.

The institute of the Ombudsman was established in Uzbekistan in 1995 in order to democratize and liberalize all spheres of public life. This structure has become an important part of the practical mechanism of protecting the rights of the citizens.

The Ombudsman of Uzbekistan is implementing a number of activities to protect the rights and freedoms of the people. During the implementation of parliamentary control over the enforcement of legislation on human rights, this parliamentary representative helps restore the violated rights and improve the relevant legislation of Uzbekistan.

The regional representatives of the Ombudsman have an important role in the performance of this important work. They accept applications from citizens and conduct monitoring of human rights in all regions.

The Ombudsman of Uzbekistan has established close cooperation with similar institutions in many countries, particularly in Russia, France, Sweden, Austria, Poland, Latvia, Spain and Slovakia. The OSCE has also carried out many projects in cooperation with the Ombudsman office of Uzbekistan.
 

www.uza.uz

The Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan held a parliamentary hearing on 9 September on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals in Uzbekistan.

Members of the Senate and the government, heads of ministries and agencies, academic analysts, representatives of various organizations, institutions of civil society and media were invited for dialogue to the Legislative Chamber.

After hearing the reports of members of the government on the implementation of the UN MDGs, the chamber noted the high efficiency and correctness of the chosen model of democratic reforms aimed at modernizing the country.

All reforms in economic, political and legal spheres are aimed at steady improvement of the people’s welfare, creating opportunities for the implementation of professional, intellectual and spiritual potential of every citizen of the country, the chamber said.

All the large-scale work carried out by the state in the past 10 years provided for a comprehensive implementation of the UN Millennium Development Goals, it was noted.

In education, a unique National Program for Personnel Training has been successfully implemented, in accordance with which the transition to 12-year continuous education was made. Special measures aimed at radically improving the quality of the educational system and process have been taken.

The general education is guaranteed by the state. The coverage of children aged 7-15 with primary and general education and literacy rates in the country correspond to absolute values, which confirms Uzbekistan’s implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.

In the recent years, the country’s health care system has been almost completely modernized, with the most important and concrete result being the creation of a specialized network of hospitals and departments that meet high standards of free and qualified emergency medical care.

The institute of public control is becoming a significant element in ensuring effective liaison of the society with the state, social support of the ongoing democratic reforms, objectives and priorities of political and legal development, as well as ensuring the welfare of the people and formation of a strong civil society.

A deliberate legislative work undertaken by the parliament plays a key and crucial role in the process of further democratization and liberalization of the social life, economic modernization and social change.

Since proclaiming independence, Uzbekistan has adopted more than 500 laws, ratified more than 100 international documents, including six major UN documents that are relevant to human rights and harmonious development.
 

www.uza.uz

 

A new sports complex has been commissioned at the Tashkent State Institute of Culture named after Abdulla Kadyri.   The complex was built by the Tashkent city branch of the Children’s Sports Development Fund of the Public Education Ministry.

More than 500 people may train here in sports like mini football, volleyball, basketball, kurash, heavy athletics and gymnastics.

Apart from students of the institute, children from the neighboring schools and residential areas will also use the new sports complex.   www.uza.uz

The annual Week of Information and Communication Technologies Infocom 2010 will be held in Uzbekistan in September. The week will host a number of events aimed at improvement of the ICT sector.

The week will open with a National ICT Summit, held for the eighth time this year.

The summit is being organized by the Coordination Council for ICT Development, Legislative Chamber’s Information and Communication Technologies Committee, Uzbek Agency for Communication and Information, UNDP through its ICT Policy project and the Association of IT Companies and Organizations of Uzbekistan.

About 350 participants from countries like India, Spain, Israel, South Korea, Russia, USA, Turkey and Czech Republic, as well as key players of Uzbek IT market will attend the ICT Summit.

The forum will be held in three thematic sections: Strategies and Development, Technologies and Infrastructure, and Applications and Solutions.

During the summit, about 50 reports will be presented on achievements and problems in IT development in Uzbekistan. At the end of the summit, a resolution will be adopted.

While the ICT Summit is the platform for the discussion of the solutions, new ideas and perspectives of the ICT sector, the ICTExpo 2010 that follows the summit is a demonstration part of the ICT Week.
 

www.uza.uz

First five enterprises opened in Navoi free industrial-economic zone in central Uzbekistan on the eve of the country’s Independence Day. They operate in sectors like electronics, car parts production, polymers processing and food industry.

Telecom Innovations joint venture, which has a production capacity of 50,000 digital TV receivers per year, was set up by Uzbektelecom and Servetechno Pte. Ltd (Singapore). The total cost of the project is USD 1.6 million. The new company provided more than 30 young specialists with jobs.

Two new companies will produce polyethylene and polypropylene pipes. First enterprise, Polietilen Quvurlari, will produce 8,600 tons of 75 to 630 mm polyethylene pipes per year. The cost of the project, which employed about 70 people, is USD 7.2 million. At full capacity, the company is expected to export over USD 5.9 million worth of products.

The second enterprise, Polipropilen Quvurlari, is designed to produce 2,300 linear kilometers of 16 to 63 mm polypropylene pipes per year. The cost of the project is USD 5.2 million. Up to 50% of the ready products will go to export. The company employed more than 40 specialists.

UzЕгаеCable joint venture was set up by Uzvtosanoat and Егае cs Ltd of South Korea. It will produce 150,000 km of car cables per year. The total cost of the project is USD 13 million. The main purchaser of the products is Uzodji joint venture, which makes car harnesses for GM Uzbekistan plant. Besides, 20% of the production will be exported to GM enterprises in the region.

AgroFresh JV, founded by Markazsanoateksport and Kefayat General Trading Co. (UAE), is capable of storing up to 3,000 tons of fruit and vegetable products. The company has modern Italian refrigerating equipment with a regulated gas environment. The cost of the project is USD 5.03 million. Up to 50% of products will be exported. The company employed over 20 people.

Navoi free industrial-economic zone was founded in December 2008 in accordance with the President’s decree to create favorable conditions for attracting foreign investments to Uzbekistan, create modern highly technological enterprises and develop the country’s industrial potential and industrial, transport and social infrastructure.

Residents of Navoi FIEZ enjoy unprecedented preferences, including tax-free and preferential currency regime, as well as simplified rules of stay for foreign personnel.

Today, Navoi FIEZ is virtually ready for placement of new enterprises, with all engineering communications in place, including drinking and technical water, canalization, electricity, natural gas, telephony, automobile roads and railway lines.

The construction of the administrative and the financial center buildings has been completed for provision of administrative, banking, finance and other related services. The customs post was built for customs clearance of import and export goods.

At present, 16 projects are being implemented in Navoi FIEZ. Five of them have already started functioning, and seven more are to be launched by the end of this year. The new enterprises will produce energy saving bulbs, LCD monitors, electric gas meters, ready medicines, generators, compressors and instrument sets for GM Uzbekistan cars.

Akobir Kurbanov and Damir Muhidov of Uzbekistan won gold medals at the first World Martial Arts Games in Beijing, China.

More than 1,000 athletes from over 60 countries participated in the games held during 28 August-4 September in 13 kinds of martial arts.

In sambo, Akobir Kurbanov came first in 90 kg weight category, winning Sasho Yevtimob from Bulgaria, Ivan Remarenko from Moldov and Moisis Iliadis from Greece.

In 68 kg category, Damir Muhidov defeated Emil Khasanov from Azerbaijan, Nikita Kletsov from Russia, Hugo Delgado from Spain and Arman Sarsenbiyev from Kazakhstan.

Firdavs Kholmuradov won silver medal in muaithai, winning over Sebastian Kalvo from Argentina and Martin Ahtar from Sweden.
 

www.uza.uz

A number of foreign leaders congratulated President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov with the country’s Independence Day.

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, in her congratulatory letter, expressed appreciation of Uzbekistan’s continued participation in the organization’s programs and the country’s significant contribution to consistent implementation of the mandate of the UNESCO, particularly in the field of culture.

“UNESCO began its close cooperation with Uzbekistan in 1993. Bilateral cooperation has increased when in 1998 at the initiative of the Uzbek government, the organization’s Executive Board held a final meeting of the 154th session in Tashkent. At that event, an important resolution on culture of peace called “The Tashkent Declaration” was adopted,” Irina Bokova wrote.

Along with this, she praised “numerous initiatives put forward by Uzbekistan to further promote intercultural dialogue and closer cooperation between the states along the Silk Road”. “It gives me a great pleasure to note that a number of activities aimed at reviving the Silk Road were implemented through projects of the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS), founded in Samarkand in 1995 as the 2nd-category institute under the UNESCO auspices,” she noted.

“I am confident that under your leadership and personal direction, Uzbekistan will continue to play a dynamic role, in particular, as a leading member of the UNESCO Executive Board, and excellent relations that exist between your country and the organization will find further fruitful development,” Irina Bokova said.

President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers expressed confidence that friendly relations existing between the two countries would continue prospering. He assured the head of Uzbekistan of his highest esteem and made wishes of welfare and prosperity for the people of Uzbekistan.

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev wrote: “I am convinced that Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which are linked by common culture and traditions, will always be true to bonds of friendship and good neighborliness while strengthening and developing mutually beneficial cooperation in the interests of the two countries’ peoples.”

President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai said he warmly welcomed and was sincerely glad that the friendly relations between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan were developing and strengthening day by day.

“Highly appreciating our good and friendly relations with the Republic of Uzbekistan, which are based on principles of good neighborliness and mutual respect, I sincerely wish for their further development in the political, economic and cultural fields,” Hamid Karzai wrote.

President of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj noted that bilateral friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation between Mongolia and Uzbekistan was developing successfully.

“In 2011, we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. In this regard, I invite you to visit Mongolia at a convenient time for you,” the leader of Mongolia said.

King of Morocco Mohammed VI said he cherished brotherly Islamic ties between the two nations and was striving to continue cooperating with President Karimov to strengthen solidarity and development of bilateral relations for the benefit of the two peoples and the Muslim Ummah.

King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej also sent his sincere congratulations and best wishes of prosperity and happiness, as well as development and prosperity of Uzbekistan and its people.

Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean wrote: “This year was marked by confident renewal of friendship between Canada and Uzbekistan. The increase of the number of visits of high-level delegations and close cooperation between our countries within multilateral forums in the recent time indicate deepening of our bilateral relations. Looking ahead to the coming year, I am confident that our relationship will further strengthen.”

President of Slovenia Danilo Türk expressed hope that cooperation between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Uzbekistan would continue to expand and strengthen in the spirit of mutual respect and understanding.

President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak wrote: “It is a great honor for me to send Your Excellency my most sincere and best wishes on the occasion of Independence Day of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Taking this opportunity, I wish Your Excellency strong health and happiness and the brotherly people of Uzbekistan further progress and prosperity.”

Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said said in his letter: “On the occasion of Independence Day of the Republic of Uzbekistan, I am pleased to send you, Your Excellency, my sincere congratulations. Taking this opportunity, I wish Your Excellency strong health and success in your work, and the Uzbek people peace and prosperity.”

Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani expressed confidence in his letter that “the existing friendly relations between our countries and peoples will continue to grow and strengthen.”

King of Jordan Abdullah II noted: “It gives me great pleasure to extend my sincere congratulations on behalf of the government, the people of Jordan and myself to Your Excellency, the government and the people on Uzbekistan’s national holiday – the Independence Day.”

President of Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali expressed wish that bonds of brotherhood and cooperation existing between the two countries would see even greater progress and development in the common interest of the brotherly peoples.

Sultan of Brunei Hagey Hassanal Bolkiah also sent congratulations and best wishes to the President, the government and the people of Uzbekistan on the occasion of Independence Day of Uzbekistan. “I look forward to continuing our joint work to strengthen friendly relations between our countries,” he wrote.

President of the Republic of South Africa Jacob Zuma expressed warmest congratulations to the President, the government and the people of Uzbekistan on behalf of the people and the government of South Africa and himself. “I wish Your Excellency good health, as well as further strengthening and close ties of friendship existing between our two countries,” he said.

President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa wrote: “Relations between Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan are developing on the basis of friendship and mutual respect. I am confident that cooperation between our two countries will continue to expand and strengthen for the good of our peoples.”

Dr Ahmad Muhammad Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank said the IDB appreciated the assistance extended by the Republic of Uzbekistan to the bank. “I ask God to give your country further prosperity and progress,” he noted.
 

www.uza.uz

The new specialized football boarding school opened in Andijan. It was created in accordance with the decree of the President of Uzbekistan of 12 August.

Gifted children born in 1997-2000 were selected for study at the school from all towns and districts of Andijan region.

The new establishment aims to support the development of the national football through training prospective players.

The school has three stadiums, a gym and an indoor pool, all meeting modern requirements.
At the opening ceremony, the school was presented with the gift from the President – a new bus produced by Samarkand car plant.
 

www.uza.uz

 

The first bell rang at all general education schools across Uzbekistan on 2 September. About 475,000 boys and girls went to the first class this year. All of them received President’s gifts in the form of a school bag with textbooks and stationery. According to the Public Education Ministry, a total of 4.6 million students go to 9,772 general education schools in Uzbekistan.

The new academic year started at all schools with the Independence Class.

www.uza.uz

 

Celebrations of the 19th anniversary of independence of Uzbekistan were held on 31 August at Alisher Navoi National Park in Tashkent. This year’s celebrations were held under the slogan: “The highest value of our sacred Motherland are people, their rights and interests”.   There reforms carried out in the country in all areas are aimed primarily at ensuring the people’s interests. Members of the Government, Senate, Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan workers of science, culture, art, businessmen, representatives of foreign embassies and international organizations took part in the holiday celebrations.

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov congratulated the people of Uzbekistan with the 19th anniversary of the country’s independence.

The national anthem of the Republic of Uzbekistan is played.

Celebrating Independence Day, we must first of all note the enormous progress achieved in a historically short period of independent development. These years are, no doubt, written in golden letters in the history of the country as years equaling to centuries on the way to building a new society and a new state, based on principles of democracy and market economy.

From the first days of independence, the head of the state Islam Karimov set the main task to build a democratic state and just civil society. Five principles developed by the President, which are the basis of constructing a new state and new society, have proven their effectiveness.

Proceeding from these principles, the idea of “From the strong state to the strong civil society” is being consistently implemented into practice.

A solid economic foundation of civil society has been created, a multiparty system was established in the political life of the country, the activity of non-state structures, NGOs and self government bodies is improving, wide-ranging reforms were implemented in the judicial system, the media, and in the educational field.

The principle “Reforms for people, their rights and interests, and for the sake of reforms” is finding its reflections in life. The Constitution states that the highest value are people, their lives, freedoms, honor, dignity and other inalienable rights.

The judiciary plays an important role in defending the rights and lawful interests of citizens. Consistent reforms were undertaken in order to enhance the credibility of the judiciary, to ensure its full independence, to further strengthen its role in the formation of the democratic state and a just civil society.

Consistent liberalization of judicial and legal system served as an important guarantor of human rights. In connection with liberalization of criminal penalties, classification of crimes was also revised and changed. The reconciliation institute was introduced in the criminal procedure law, the advocacy institute was reformed, the system of enforcement of court decisions and the activities of the prosecutors were improved.

On the initiative of the head of state, the death penalty was abolished in the country, and the courts received the power to issue detention orders. This caused a lot of positive resonance throughout the world.

The Constitutional Law “On strengthening the role of political parties in renewal and further democratization of state governance and modernization of the country” has had a strong influence on the development and strengthening of the multiparty system, strengthening the role of political parties in the Legislative Chamber and decision making.

In the years of independence, the country has established the electoral system corresponding to the highest democratic requirements, generally accepted international norms and standards. Holding elections in accordance with principles of openness, transparency and justice is guaranteed in the Constitution, laws “On elections to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan” and “On guarantees of electoral rights of citizens” and other legal acts.

According to amendments made to the electoral law, elections were held in the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the local Councils of People’s Deputies on 27 December 2009, when 150 deputies were elected to the lower house of parliament, including 15 deputies from the Environmental Movement of Uzbekistan.

As President said in his speech at the joint meeting of the Legislative Chamber and the Senate, the held elections showed a high sociopolitical culture of the people, the growing level of political and civic awareness, and broad support of the steady progress towards the deepening of reform and modernization of the country.
 

Today, the whole world is watching Uzbekistan with great interest.   In the global financial crisis, which strongly influenced even the developed countries, steadily developing economy of Uzbekistan proved the correctness and vitality of the chosen path of development. The book by President Islam Karimov “World economic and financial crisis.   Ways and measures to overcome it in Uzbekistan” was translated into dozens of languages and is studied around the world.

Structural changes, active investment policy, industrial modernization and diversification program, accelerated development of industrial infrastructure and transport communications implemented in Uzbekistan contribute to sustained and balanced growth of the economy.

In the first half of 2010, the country’s GDP growth made up 8 percent.

Products labeled “Made in Uzbekistan” are gaining popularity on the global market. Thanks to support of exporters and opening of new markets, export volumes grew by 14.3 percent. The domestic goods and services are exported to 139 countries.

In the first half of this year, over 518 billion soums were allocated by domestic commercial banks for modernization, technical and technological renovation of enterprises and implementation of investment projects. The volume of used foreign investments amounted to almost 1.7 billion dollars.

In the framework of the localization program, 181 types of new products were mastered. As a result of measures to stimulate production of export-oriented products, export of localized production increased almost 1.8 times.

Issues of development and stimulating small businesses and private entrepreneurs, as well as service sector remain under constant attention. As a result, the share of small business in GDP during the first half of 2010 amounted 41.1 percent.

Since the beginning of this year, 108 projects of technical modernization of production were implemented and 529 production facilities were commissioned.

Work on deepening agricultural reforms, strengthening the material base of the farms, and improvement of their efficiency is also yielding results. Production of various agricultural products is increasing. This year, the farmers harvested more than 7 million tons of grain. Cotton growers also expect high results.

The roads connect cities and people. Where there are roads and communication – there’s development and prosperity. The state pays great attention to development of road transport infrastructure.

In the first half of this year, 190.6 billion soums were spent for construction and reconstruction of roads of international and national significance, including construction of sections of the Uzbek national highway and acquisition of road-building machinery. Construction works are carried out at the 59 objects of infrastructure and services, located on the Uzbek national highway.

At the junction and stations of Toshguzar-Baysun-Kumkurgan railway line, construction of industrial and technical buildings and homes is nearing completion.

On the eve of the holiday, a new cargo terminal that meets the highest requirements was put into operation at the international airport of Navoi city.

The policy implemented in the country is aimed at increasing employment, stimulating work and increasing incomes, thus serving the interests of the people. While in many countries unemployment is growing, in Uzbekistan more than 509,000 new jobs were created in the first half of 2010. Salaries and income levels are also constantly increasing.

At the international conference on “Effectiveness of Anti-crisis measures program and priorities for post-crisis development (experience of Uzbekistan)”, held in April in Tashkent, economic growth in Uzbekistan was praised once again. The conclusions and recommendations of the forum noted high efficiency of measures aimed at countering the influence of the global economic crisis. At the same time, the participants highlighted the importance and relevance of priorities for post-crisis period outlined by President Islam Karimov, and the Anti-crisis program.

In early May, the 43rd annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank was held in Tashkent. The fact that the capital of Uzbekistan, the first in the CIS and the Caucasus region, hosted such a prestigious forum indicates growing international image of the country. All participants noted high level of organization and high efficiency of the forum.

Both the ADB Governors meeting and the IMF mission that visited the country in late June, praised the successes of Uzbekistan. According to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, continued effective anti-crisis measures aimed at modernization and infrastructure development, as well as growth of exports will lead to more than 8 percent GDP growth in Uzbekistan this year.

In June, Tashkent hosted the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The forum approved the Regulations on the procedure for admitting new members of the SCO and the Rules of SCO procedures. Adoption of these documents at the Tashkent summit demonstrated high efficiency of the presidency of Uzbekistan in the organization.

In April, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Uzbekistan. During his visit to Tashkent, a joint declaration on cooperation between the SCO Secretariat and the UN was signed. This was another historical achievement of the foreign policy of Uzbekistan in 2010.

As President points out, when people’s living conditions change, their attitude towards tomorrow also changes and their confidence in the future strengthens. Unprecedented measures to radically transform the look of villages on the basis of requirements of modern architecture and industry, housing, social and community facilities, communications are being carried out in the country.

During the first half of 2010, new residential housing was commissioned, gas and water pipes were laid. 847 new houses were built in 42 residential areas in rural districts.

Construction now continues of 6,800 houses in 233 places in 159 rural districts of Uzbekistan. For this purpose, Qisloq Qurilish Bank (Rural Construction Bank) allocated preferential credits amounting to 122.2 billion soums.

To better meet the needs in modern building materials, in the six months of 2010, 116 new enterprises for production of roofing materials, drywall, finishing dry mixes, and prefabricated structures were opened.
 

There is a deep meaning and significance in the fact the President declared 2010 as the Year of Harmoniously Developed Generation.   As the head of state noted, “our children should be stronger, smarter, wiser, and certainly happier than us”. Educating harmoniously developed generation is defined one of the priorities of the state policy. Under the “Healthy mother – healthy child” program, large-scale work is being carried out.

Diagnostic, screening and perinatal centers equipped with modern medical facilities provide care for mothers and children.

Great changes have taken place in the education, too. Graduates of high schools and colleges now work in industry, agriculture, governance, social sector. In the first half of this year, 282.800 new jobs were created for young people.

In line with the 2010 State Program, wide-scale work to improve state education standards, curricula and textbooks, introduce new information and pedagogical techniques in the learning process, develop children’s sports is implemented. Sports complexes and stadiums, water sports palaces, rhythmic gymnastics halls are built in cities and villages.

In the years of independence, great attention has been paid to enrichment of the spiritual world and improving the culture level of the youth, as well as development of all arts, particularly music.

Creation of new children’s music and art schools is the practical result of the work done in this direction. State award named after poetess Zulfia, contests like “Nihol”, “Yagonasan, Muqaddas Vatan”, “Yangi Avlod”, “Kelajak Ovozi” and others serve to encourage young talents.

The prosperity of the country and its achievements – all of this has been achieved mainly due to peace and stability, inter-ethnic harmony and mutual respect reigning in the country.

The celebrations of the greatest holiday were streamed live via the internet in more than 50 countries.
 

www.uza.uz