Dear compatriots!
I have a tremendous privilege at these unforgettable and exciting moments to cordially congratulate you all on the upcoming New Year 2014 and express my sincere respect and the kindest wishes to you.
By mentally hugging you, all who have gathered around the festive table, from the bottom of my heart I wish you, my dear ones, peace and harmony, a sound health and happiness, abundance and prosperity to your homes, and wish that the innermost dreams of yours come true.
Summing up the outcomes of the year we are seeing off, with enormous delight do we mark our nation’s confident strides toward the achievement of ends we have set out to further, namely, to join the ranks of advanced democratic nations, step up the standards and quality of life in our society, and cement Uzbekistan’s mounting eminence at the international arena.
The outgoing year has proved genuinely prolific and successful in terms of the steadfast development of the country, the consolidation of its potential, the provision for a sustainable and consistent economic growth, and elevation in the wellbeing of the population.
In spite of the grave impact still exerted by the continuing global financial and economic crisis, the growth rates of Uzbekistan’s gross domestic product in recent years have amounted to more than 8 percent, and what needs stressing in this respect is that very few nations in the world can boast such indicators.
The volumes of investments, including foreign ones, flowing into our economy have been rising, resulting thus in the erection of hundreds of modern enterprises to produce goods competitive in the global markets, in the creation of new transport communications, the construction of hundreds of thousands of square meters of housing, hospitals, schools, state-of-the-art colleges, lyceums and infrastructure facilities. These endeavors have also been spearheading the cardinal transformation in the appearance of our urban and rural areas, the growth in the social welfare of people, and the reinforcement of the reliable foundation of the future of our nation.
In the departing year, the real incomes of the population have grown by 15.7 percent, while salaries, retiree pensions, scholarship stipends and social allowances increased by 20.8 percent. The inflation rate has not exceeded 6 percent. We cannot but rejoice by the mounting diversity and abundance of goods in stores and markets as much as the prices enduring within the frames of reasonability.
I am convinced that the growth rates of wages, retiree pensions, scholarship stipends, and in the end the incomes of the population, will in the new year be not inferior to those in the year passing by.
Dear friends!
The New Year 2014 is joining our lives.
Our common wish is that it be a prosperous and productive for all of us and the entire country, and that it bring satisfaction from observing our boldest goals and objectives met and furthered.
I believe you will agree with me that for this end to be achieved, we should not give ourselves up to euphoria and complacency and lose touch with the reality, but by critically assessing our accomplishments confidently wend our way through life and prospects.
We ought to keep safeguarding our invaluable wealth as the apple of the eye, namely, the peace and stability, the atmosphere of kindness, humanism and mutual understanding, interethnic and civic harmony. We should also consolidate the friendly relations with neighboring nations, ensure the security of the country as well as the inviolability of its borders, and hence bolster the capabilities of our armed forces, realizing that all this is an imperative requirement of the contemporary volatile times we live in.
In the upcoming year, the enhancement and elevation in the effectiveness of the expansively well thought-out cardinal reforms that have fully justified themselves and dedicated to democratization and liberalization of all walks of life of the society should become the principal end of all our programs and everyday efforts.
It is critically essential that we continue with the structural reforms undertaken in the economy by manufacturing, first and foremost, quality goods in demand in the world market, by creating a business-friendly environment and even greater opportunities for the promotion of small business and private entrepreneurship and farmer movement. It is important also to boost the healthcare and education systems and the social sphere in general, up to a qualitatively new level, and secure the efficiency of our creative endeavors.
I would like to note in particular that the announcement of the year 2014 as one of the Health of the Child in Uzbekistan has been met by the population of the country with enthusiasm, which primarily reflects the harmony of the adopted decision with the hopes and vital aspirations of our people.
Indeed, to see one’s children healthy and comprehensively advanced and witness their happy and prosperous lives is the most cherished dream of every parent and every family.
In the meanwhile, all of us are well aware of the fact that fostering a physically sound and spiritually mature new generation that wields modern knowledge, independent thinking and sophisticated intellect, that is capable of taking the responsibility for the fate and future of the native land – is turning into a key, I daresay a decisive factor today in building an comfortable life and a prosperous democratic state and civil society.
Profoundly realizing this important truth, we will keep making our every effort to make sure that issues related to nurturing a completely advanced younger generation be constantly placed in the core of attention of the state and society as well as every one of us in the year 2014 and in the longer-run, as well.
My dear compatriots!
At these magic moments, a handful of minutes away from the coming New Year, all of us ask the Almighty from the bottom of our souls for our innermost dreams come true.
May the new year bring kindness and abundance, happiness and lots of joy to every family!
May peace and harmony and the clear sky reign in our land!
I wish a robust health, every success and the best of luck in the New Year!
Happy New Year, dear friends!
Islam Karimov,
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan