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Address by H.E. President Islam Karimov at the Grand Meeting Dedicated
to the 18th Anniversary of Adoption of the Constitution of the Republic
of Uzbekistan
Dear
compatriots!
Ladies and Gentlemen!
These days the nation solemnly marks the 18th anniversary of adoption
of the Main Law – the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Celebrating this truly historical date in the life of our state and
our people, we give due to the everlasting role and significance,
which the Constitution of the country has played in formation of the
modern Uzbekistan, in achievement of the goal, which we have set
before us from the early years of independence, i.e. to build a
democratic law-governed state with socially oriented economy and
establish the civil society, where the human being, his interests, his
rights and freedoms are the most supreme value.
Today, objectively assessing and summarizing the outcomes of
independent development of Uzbekistan, it is of no doubt that all the
achieved goals and results recognized by the world community, which
our country secured for over the past years, - both stably functioning
economy, its sustainable growth rates, the year-to-year growth
well-being of the population and strengthening authority in the world
community, - all of these, first of all, are the result of
implementation of the deeply thought-out objectives, principles and
norms enshrined in the Constitution.
Shortly speaking, the life itself compellingly confirms the
correctness of the country’s development model, which was chosen by us
and enshrined in our Constitution that has gained the name of the
“Uzbek model”.
As far we are moving away from the obsolete totalitarian, centralized,
command, planning and distributive system as more we are getting
convinced to what extent the principles and norms, on which our model
is built, were right.
This is, first of all, full deideologization of our life, rejection of
communist dogmas, rule of Law for all, maintaining by the state of the
role of a main reformer, the choice of not a revolutionary, but
evolutionary path, i.e. phased and gradual nature of reforms being
carried out in line with the principle “do not destroy the old house
until you build a new one”, as well as a strong social policy.
Guided by these principles, for over the past period in fact we have
achieved a lot and can rightly be proud of this.
In my view, we have achieved the main thing, i.e. the process of
reforming and democratization of the country acquired an irreversible
and progressive nature.
The people, their social consciousness and their attitude towards life
are changing. Their political maturity and civic responsibility for
what is taking place in the country and the world are growing.
And all of this serves now as powerful moving force, which ensures
onwards progression of the country along the path of progress and
prosperity.
Along with this, while giving due to what was accomplished, we don’t
have the right to forget that the life is always on the move.
Objectively and self-critically assessing the traversed path and the
place of our country in the radical changes taking place in the world,
we must not flatter ourselves with what was achieved and must not
succumb to the feeling of euphoria and complacency.
In the century of globalization and increasing competition, in which
we live now, only as a result of persistent and determined progression
ahead on the way of cardinal reforms and modernization we can achieve
the perspective goal, which we have set before ourselves, i.e. to join
the ranks of developed democratic and flourishing states, provide our
people worthy living standards.
It is these particular tasks which are set in the “Concept of further
deepening the democratic reforms and establishing the civil society in
the country”, enunciated at the joint session of chambers of our
Parliament on November 12 this year.
The followings must become our most important priorities:
- to continue the constitutional reforms aimed at further
democratization of state power and governance, continue the reforms on
consolidating independence and liberalization of judicial system;
- the guarantees of the human and citizen rights in the information
sphere, ensuring freedom of choice and improving the electoral
legislation;
- further expansion and strengthening of rights and authorities of the
non-state non-profit organizations, public structures and citizens’
self-governance bodies, in particular, makhalla, which are set to
become in practice the most important factors of protection of
democratic values and lawful interests of people, as well as
establishment of a civil society.
Only continuing to carry out the large-scale economic reforms and
transformations in accordance with fully justified model that we chose
can ensure the sustainability and necessary pace of development of the
economy, to raise our living standards and allow us to secure our
worthy place in the world community.
It goes without saying that it is necessary to realize that we are
setting before us such most complex and considerable tasks for
implementation of which it will take many years.
Now I won’t dwell in detail on the concrete directions envisaged by
the Concept of further reforming and modernizing the country.
All of these issues are now being covered by the mass media rather in
detail and they are the subject of discussion not only in our country,
but also abroad.
At the same time, I would like to underscore that the most complex and
responsible task is not about elaborating the Concept itself, but
drafting and gradually implementing the Complex program, - speaking in
other words, the strategy of implementing the target objectives set in
the Concept on further deepening and expanding the launched reforms to
democratize and modernize the country and pursue the high development
goals which we have set before us.
Speaking about this, I consider it necessary to pay attention to the
following major principles which our work must be based on:
First. We must observe continuity, gradualness and consistency,
speaking otherwise, the evolutionary nature of ongoing reforms,
bearing in mind, that they should serve as a logical and natural
continuation of the chosen course of building a democratic and
law-governed state with a strong civil society.
Second. It is necessary to clearly understand that the directions of
reforms proposed in the Concept are closely interlinked and
interdependent.
One cannot ensure the market reforms and liberalization of economy
without consistent democratization of social order and state system,
providing for independent judiciary. It is equally related to the
issues of ensuring freedom of speech and information, freedom of
choice and developing the electoral system, establishing the civil
society institutions, raising the political awareness, social and
economic activeness and legal culture of our citizens.
Third. The success of further reforming and modernizing the country
can be ensured only then, when the reforms become accessible and
comprehensible for each consciously thinking person, and if the
reforms become business of each citizen and each person living in our
soil.
I set the biggest hopes and thoughts on you, my compatriots present in
this hall, and above all, on the youth and in their person on the
many-million forthcoming generation, who now enters our life as the
decisive creative force whom the future of the country belongs to.
I firmly believe that our children – our pride and buttress – shall be
worthy of the hopes, which we pin on them.
Dear friends!
A year ago at the grand meeting, dedicated to the Constitution Day,
together with you we adopted decision to announce 2010 in our country
as the “Year of harmoniously developed generation”.
Putting forward this exclusively important task for the present and
especially for the future of our state and society, we proceeded,
first of all, from the indisputable truth that the 21st century, in
which we live, is the century when the intellectual values, the high
level of knowledge and education dominate and are in demand.
Today there is no need to speak a lot about the fact that the most
decisive factor of our progression ahead and ensuring realization of
our most cherished dreams is a human capital, the forthcoming
generation of young people with contemporary knowledge and in-demand
professions capable to take on a responsibility for the future of the
country.
It goes without saying that elaborating the program of harmonious
development of upcoming generation we clearly realize that it is
impossible to tackle this task of utmost importance for over the short
period.
This goal must turn into a subject of daily concern and priority
attention of the state and our entire society for a long-term
perspective.
Naturally, the implementation of this extraordinarily large-scale
program cannot be covered in the framework of one speech. This issue
shall be discussed in detail at the sessions dedicated to the outcomes
of the year, which will be held at the local levels and the center.
Allow me to briefly dwell on the most important aspects of
implementation of main directions of the Program “Year of harmoniously
developed generation” in 2010.
Above all, a special attention was paid to the issues of further
improving the normative and legal basis directed to protecting the
rights and interests of children and youth, strengthening the legal
foundations of their harmonious development.
Proceeding from the requirements of time, a thorough inventory of more
than 600 normative and legal acts was made, on the outcomes of which
the relevant amendments and additions have been introduced to the
legislative and normative acts currently in force. They include: the
introduction of additions to the Code on administrative responsibility
that reinforce the responsibility of managers of entertainment
institutions and other officials in terms of observing the set norms
and strengthening the law and order that rule out drawing minors into
criminogenic situation.
The Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis adopted in the first reading
the Law “On information and library activity” aimed at providing the
information and library, and above all, Internet services, firstly, to
pupils and students based on the latest information technologies.
The adoption of the Law “On preventing neglect and delinquencies among
minors” has a profound importance. It is necessary to underscore that
adoption very soon of the Law “On limiting distribution and
consumption of alcohol and tobacco products” shall become an important
factor of fostering a healthy generation and guarding it from bad
habits that undermine their health in the early age.
The draft of new wording of the Law “On physical culture and sports”
aimed at further reforming the sphere of physical culture and sports
and improving the system of training specialists in this sphere is
also an important document elaborated in the framework of the Program.
Naturally, when we speak about healthy generation, first and foremost,
we mean fostering a healthy progeny. For over the past years the
large-scale measures have been worked out and implemented in this
direction based on the program “A healthy mother – a healthy child”.
Everyone is aware how much efforts and funds have been put to
protection of motherhood and childhood, including the construction in
the capital city and the regions of diagnostic, screening and
perinatal centers, new maternity complexes supplied with modern
medical equipment.
In the framework of the State program “Screening of mother and child”,
the screening centers were established in the cities of Gulistan and
Jizzakh, alongside with those in other areas in Uzbekistan. All
regional centers are supplied at the expense of budget with modern
diagnostic and laboratory equipment and consumable materials. This has
permitted to take to a higher level the prophylaxis and treatment of a
broad range of hereditary diseases and decrease the degree of risk of
birth of children with hereditary diseases and congenital growth
diseases.
In all regions of the country practically the entire population is
provided with medical examination and ultrasound check-up at the
countryside medical stations and specialized centers supplied with
modern equipment. The “Health improvement week for fertile-age women,
children and teenage girls” is held monthly. This year alone more than
7 million 800 thousand women and 8 million 500 thousand children at
the age of up to 14 years went through medical examination.
This year more than 12 thousand visiting nurses, over 8 thousand
pediatricians, neonatalogists (baby doctors), midwives and nurses
raised their qualification and went through training with introduction
of new technologies in rendering medical services to women and
children.
It is hard to find analogues to preventive measures being adopted in
Uzbekistan on protection of population’s reproductive health directed
to strengthening health of pregnant women through providing them with
special polyvitamin complexes that contain the necessary spectrum of
vitally important elements. Such measures allow to annually improve
health of 400 thousand pregnant women, promote stronger health of
mothers and prevent birth of children with congenital growth diseases.
The enormous work is being carried out to prevent a number of diseases
deemed dangerous for people’s life. Today in all regions of the
country more than 98 percent of children are vaccinated against
controllable infections. As a result, the number of cases of
diphtheria and measles has sharply decreased. The number of cases of
infectious diseases decreased in 2010, including cerebrospinal
infection – by 28 percent, epidemic parotiditis – by 27 percent and
viral hepatitis – by 13 percent.
In the course of yet another large-scale measure carried out in the
country - the National days of immunization against polio – 4 million
children at the age of up to 15 years have been vaccinated. This has
permitted to prevent falling ill with polio in the conditions, when
unfavorable situation unfolded in the neighboring countries.
According to a number of respected international institutions,
Uzbekistan occupies one of the leading places among 125 countries of
the world on the level of favorable conditions created for women and
protection of motherhood.
The UNICEF Regional Office for Eastern Europe, Baltics and CIS
recognized Uzbekistan to be the regional model on introducing programs
in the area of protection of motherhood and childhood.
More than 1 trillion 700 billion soums was allocated from the State
budget to finance the protection of motherhood and childhood, prevent
various diseases and as a whole to develop the system of healthcare.
This means it is by 30 percent more than it was allocated in 2009 and
as more as twice in comparison with the year 2008.
A special attention in implementation of the State program “Year of
harmoniously developed generation” was paid to the development of the
sphere of education, and above all, reinforcement of its logistical
and technical basis, new construction and provision of educational
institutions with modern equipment.
As a result of implementing the National program of cadres training
and the State nationwide Program of developing the school education we
have built or thoroughly reconstructed in line with modern designs
1536 academic lyceums and professional colleges, about 9 thousand, or
practically all general education schools and more than 1800 sports
halls.
With an aim of constantly renovating the logistical and technical
basis of these educational facilities, undertaking on systematic basis
their re-equipment with the state-of-the-art computer technology,
educational laboratory equipment, furniture and study inventory,
maintaining their up-to-date operation, as well as effectively
utilizing the existing enormous potential we have established a
completely new structure – the special fund at the Ministry of
Finance.
In 2010, 315 billion soums were deposited to the bank account of this
fund and in 2011 it is envisaged to allocate 370 billion soums. And
this fact witnesses about enormous attention paid in our country to
this issue.
I would like to especially note the significance for us of the opening
this year in Tashkent of the new and modern education complex of the
Turin Polytechnic University, which is set to become a source of the
highly qualified cadres for dynamically developing domestic automobile
industry and several other branches.
For over this period we have optimized the system of cadres’ training,
unified 50 directions of bachelor’s education and 74 master’s
specialty, as well as introduced the new classifiers of directions and
majors of secondary special, professional and higher education.
In the framework of the Program, in 2010, 560 leading cluster schools
were provided with 13500 computers worth about 6 million US dollars,
over 750 rural schools were supplied with modern educational
laboratory equipment and multimedia tools, the teachers of 1.5
thousand rural schools were supplied with 3400 personal computers
worth in total about 13 million dollars.
At the moment, all educational, scientific and cultural-enlightenment
facilities of the country – and they are more than 12 thousand – are
connected to Educational portal, which contains over 25 thousand study
materials and resources. This permits to actively introduce the
methods of distance education into the education system as well as a
broad complex of information and communication services for the
country’s students.
Along with this, I want to underscore once again that it acquires an
enormous significance the introduction of modern information and
computer technologies, digital and broadband telecommunications and
Internet not only in schools, lyceums, colleges and higher educational
institutions, but also in the life of each family. It is the
dimensions of development of contemporary communication systems and
information technologies that serve as an indicator of the development
level of the country and society.
Thanks to the work being accomplished in this direction, today the
number of Internet users make up 6 million and half of them account
for mobile communication service users.
I would like to especially note that in 2010 the modern digital
television was launched in the cities of Tashkent and Samarkand, which
allows to significantly increase the quality of services on
distribution of multi-program television channels, and opens up
principally new opportunities in terms of access to international
information resources.
Dear compatriots!
The work being consistently carried out in the sphere of physical
training and sports, especially, on further developing the children’s
sport, building sports grounds, facilities and complexes in each city
and village that meet the latest requirements and equipped with
necessary sports inventory, now gives its positive results.
It should be noted that for over the years of independence Uzbekistan
built more than 1200 new sports facilities and more than thousand of
them are located in the rural area. This permitted today to draw over
260 thousand children into regular various types of sports.
A significant progress was achieved in actively involving the girls to
go in for sports, and above all, in the rural area. Proceeding from
the motto “No one should stay aside from sports”, the sports clothing
and inventory worth 3 billion 500 million soums were procured for 120
thousand girls from the low-income families.
I would like to draw your attention yet to another notable fact. After
adoption of the Program of developing calisthenics, the number of
those who go in for this wonderful type of sport in the country
increased 6-7-fold, and in some regions – 10-12-fold.
I think in this regard it is appropriate to make one vivid example. At
the XVI Summer Asian Games, recently came to an end in China, our
sportswomen on calisthenics, having demonstrated their talent and
mastery, had secured the honorable second place, which became an
unprecedented event in sports life of Uzbekistan.
It is worth noting that more than 500 young sportsmen of our country,
the third of which make up girls, have participated this year in the
42 international competitions.
Today we should mention the success of our young sportsmen at the I
Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, where they won 9 medals. And at the
XVI Asian Games the Uzbekistan national team confidently competed with
world-recognized sportsmen – by winning 11 gold, 22 silver and 23
bronze medals and occupied in the team rating the honorable eighth
place.
Taking today’s opportunity, I want to announce with pleasure the names
of some talented young men and women, who made famous our Homeland to
the entire world at the international arenas – Rishod Sobirov, Rustam
Kasymjanov, Vladimir Tuychiev, Vadim Menkov, Dilshod Mansurov, Yuliya
Tarasova, Arthur Taymazov, Elshod Rasulov, Svetlana Radzivil, Serik
Mirbekov, Gerasim Kochnev, Sergey Borzov, Alexei Babajanov, Vyacheslav
Gorn and Alexei Mochalov, who won gold medals at the Asian Games.
The student of the Tashkent Institute of Physical Culture, the twice
world champion on canoe rowing Vadim Menkov, who in 2010 was
recognized by the International Rowing Federation to be the best
canoeist of the world, became a true pride of our people.
All of this gives us confidence that the national team of Uzbekistan
will successfully compete at 2012 Olympic Games in London.
We hope that the youth national football team of Uzbekistan that
successfully competed at the last Asian Games will duly demonstrate
its mastery next year in the football world cup in Mexico.
The true courage and selflessness, as well as the high morale and
determination were displayed by players of the Uzbekistan national
team, who for a second time in a row secured a title of world
champions at the amputee football world cup in Argentina.
On behalf of the entire nation I want to express enormous gratitude to
all our valorous sportsmen, who demonstrated high mastery at the world
and continental competitions and raised high Uzbekistan’s flag, and
wish them new victories.
I consider it appropriate to dwell more in detail on yet another
priority direction of the State program “Year of harmoniously
developed generation”. I am speaking about broad involvement of the
graduates of professional colleges and higher educational institutions
to the sphere of small business and private entrepreneurship with an
aim of practical application of the contemporary knowledge and skills
gained by them.
The adoption of the Decree of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan “On additional measures to draw the graduates of
educational institutions into an entrepreneurial activity” served as
an important step in this direction. It is worth noting the work being
carried out by the country’s banks in terms of allocating the
graduates of educational institutions the soft loans to establish
their own business.
I want to draw your attention yet to another important issue. All of
us well understand that in the contemporary conditions of fierce
competition one cannot speak about progress in isolation from the
issue of further developing innovative technologies and science,
actively attracting talented and gifted youth to the scientific
activity, as well as creating conditions for them to realize their
creative and intellectual potential.
Today the time itself dictates that this issue needs to be considered
as one of the utterly important priorities of our policy.
Recently we have adopted the resolution of the President on radically
improving the system of training the scientific and
scientific-pedagogical cadres of higher qualification. The essence of
this document is as follows: instead of obsolete methods of cadres
training in the forms of postgraduate and doctoral studies at higher
educational and scientific research institutions of the country we
have introduced an institute of intern-researcher-applicants and
senior scientific fellow-applicants.
Most importantly, with a goal of creating incentives and conditions
for realizing one’s creative and intellectual potential we have
decided to equate the official rate of pay of an
intern-researcher-applicant with basic rate of the official rate of
pay of an applicant-researcher and of a senior scientific
fellow-applicant – with the rate of pay of senior scientific fellows,
who have Ph.D. degrees. In practice, it means increasing for all of
the aforementioned applicants of a salary to 1.6 times.
It is necessary to dwell yet on another direction of the Program of
principal importance, i.e. on continuing the large-scale work being
carried out in the country to reinforce family, extend care about
young families, provide them with legal and social protection, as well
as create necessary conditions to form a healthy and solid family.
There is no need to speak that it is in the family, in the atmosphere
of love and mutual respect of parents, where a new human being is
born, where he is fostered as a personality and citizen. It is in the
family, where he imbibes the notions of honor and kindness, respectful
attitude towards elders, where the person’s worldview is shaped in the
spirit of national and universal values.
In this regard, this year we continued the work started in previous
years in terms of supporting the institution of a family. For example,
in order to resolve the housing problems and providing housing
amenities the commercial banks allocated the mortgage and consumer
credits to 2.5 thousand young families worth 107 billion 600 million
soums. Besides, the khokimiyats (governor’s and mayor’s offices) of
the regions, cities and districts allocated more than 5 billion 800
million soums of attracted sponsorship funds for reconstruction of the
emptied uninhabited buildings and procurement of one’s own housing.
More than 7200 young families received cattle for free of charge, and
5 billion 300 soums have been allocated for these purposes.
In the framework of the Program we have introduced the new
contemporary forms and tools of the information and pedagogical
technologies with an aim to foster in youth a solid spiritual immunity
against influence of the so-called “mass culture”, religious
extremism, penetration of ideas and values alien to our people.
Certainly, in this context it acquires a profound importance the
propaganda and popularization of works of a genuine art in contrast to
the samples of a low-standard “mass culture”.
Dear friends!
It is notable that the non-governmental organizations became the
initiators of many undertakings set by the State program “Year of
harmoniously developed generation” and this serves as an indisputable
proof of our real achievements in building a civil society in the
country, vividly demonstrates the commonality of interests of a state
and society in fostering the harmoniously developed generation.
This year alone about 8 trillion soums were channeled from all sources
to implementation of the Program “Year of harmoniously developed
generation” and this witness about the depth and enormous scale of
this work.
Availing myself of this opportunity, on my own behalf and on behalf of
the entire nation I want to express a sincere gratitude to the state
and non-state organizations of the country, enterprises, farming
entities and entrepreneurial structures, foreign funds and
international organizations, and all people, who made their worthy
contribution to this noble cause.
Dear compatriots!
Now along with you we must consider what a name we shall give to the
upcoming year 2011.
I think there is no need to speak once more about the essence and
significance of a concrete naming each year that unites all of us
along the path towards the goal, which we will set before ourselves.
In the whole we all well understand how important this issue is in
mobilizing the capacities and funds of the state and society,
enterprises, organizations or institutions regardless of their form of
ownership, legal and physical entities, sponsors and charity funds in
order to achieve the set objectives and jointly tackle the available
problems.
One can see a confirmation of this in our practice and on the results
of the large-scale work, which is being accomplished starting from
1997, when we began to give each new year a name, which embodies the
thoughts and aspirations of the people.
Taking into consideration the aforementioned conclusions and with an
aim to taking up to a new level the social and economic development of
the country, I propose to announce the upcoming new year 2011 the
“Year of small business and entrepreneurship”.
Speaking about entrepreneurship, first and foremost, we mean the
private entrepreneurship. It is appropriate to note that from the time
immemorial the entrepreneurship occupied a special place in the
history of our country. We can say a lot about the traditions of our
ancestor’s spirit of enterprise, their respectful and careful
treatment of land, property, crafts and business qualities of people.
Here I want to remind once again the wise words of Amir Temur: “One
resolute, enterprising, vigilant, courageous and brave man is
preferable to thousands of lacking initiative and indifferent people”.
Perhaps, in the past the entrepreneur was named in a different way.
But whatever way he was named – the trader or foreman-craftsman, the
owner of workshop or enterprise, our ancestors at the expense of such
types of economic activity provided the interests not only of their
own families, but also the entire country.
In a word, it won’t be an exaggeration if to say that the
entrepreneurial talent initially exists in our people.
It should be underscored that from the early days of independence in
defining the future of the country, political system and social order
of the state and society, firstly, in drafting and approving the
Constitution the principal issue about ownership and property
relations has always remained in the focus of our attention.
It is therefore that recognizing the equality of the state, corporate
and private ownership in the make-up of the country’s multiform
economy, our Constitution and legislation enshrine the priority of
private ownership and ensure reliable constitutional guarantees.
Today the small business and private entrepreneurship with especially
important and considerable share in the economy, the role and
interaction, and simply speaking, a profound significance, which
cannot be replaced by any sphere and direction, take a special place
in the development of state and society.
Creating maximum favorable conditions, benefits and preferences,
rendering comprehensive support, accelerated development of small
business and private entrepreneurship, without which it is impossible
to ensure the future of our economy, serve as the most important
priority for over a span of the whole period of independent
development.
One should not forget that the accelerated development of exactly this
sphere is one of the most significant factors of filling the domestic
market with competitive and quality products, creating the new jobs,
first of all, for the youth, which is one of the today’s outstanding
issues, and ensuring on this basis the growth of incomes and
well-being of the people.
Speaking about exclusive importance of developing the small business
and entrepreneurship, we must realize that while resolving this
problem we will directly accomplish the fundamental task, which mostly
defines the essence and substance of the ongoing reforms, i.e.
creating a middle class of owners as the basis of a democratic
society.
Everyone knows that it is this social stratum, i.e. the middle class,
who is mostly interested in further deepening the reforms being
carried out in the country, as well as the stable and sustainable
development. Shortly speaking, the small business and entrepreneurship
now become a guarantor and buttress of the social and political
stability in the society, an active moving force along the path of the
country’s progress.
For over the last years we have accomplished a lot in terms of
creating a favorable business climate and promoting the small business
and private entrepreneurship.
I think, not dwelling on this issue in detail, suffice it to make just
one example.
If in 2000 the small business produced 30 percent of the country’s
gross domestic product, then after a short period of time, on the
outcomes of 2010 this indicator, as it is expected, will amount to 53
percent, which is without any doubt a logical result of our purposeful
work.
Touching on this topic, I want to especially draw your attention to
the fact that the small business and private entrepreneurship are
becoming an important factor of providing employment and the source of
a stable income. The particular fact that at the moment over 74
percent out of the total number of the country’s employed population
is working in this sphere also witness about the aforementioned.
It is hard to imagine, where these people would look for the jobs now,
had we not paid a big and comprehensive attention to this sphere in
its own time, had we not created the necessary conditions and not
given various preferences.
A vivid confirmation of the aforementioned thought serves the very
fact that in 2010 alone thanks to developing the small business and
private entrepreneurship we created 480 thousand new jobs. And more
than 60 percent of them are in the rural area. Taking into
consideration that about 50 percent of the country’s population lives
just in the villages, I think it is not difficult to comprehend the
social significance of these figures.
Yet one can speak a lot about obvious advantages and big opportunities
of the small business and private entrepreneurship. However, if to
take into account that at the moment there are many untapped potential
and opportunities in Uzbekistan to develop this sphere, and the small
business and entrepreneurship occupy a leading, and moreover, a
resolute place in the total volume of the gross domestic product in
the developed countries of the world, then it will become clear that
how a large-scale work we will have to accomplish in this direction.
Proceeding from this, it is necessary to pay a special attention to
the following priority directions of the State program, which shall be
drafted and adopted in connection with announcement of the Year of
small business and entrepreneurship.
Firstly, with an aim of protecting the rights and interests of small
business and entrepreneurship, as well as giving the new opportunities
for development of this sphere the issues of critical assessment of
the current normative and legal basis and adopting the new laws must
remain in the focus of our attention.
Speaking about this, it should be emphasized that one cannot tolerate
anymore such a state of affairs, when at the local levels instead of
giving support to private entrepreneurs the officials put all kinds of
obstacles to those, who strive to establish, let it be small, but
their own business.
It goes without saying that for over the last years we have
accomplished a big work to considerably reduce the interference of
state and supervising institutions in the financial and economic
activity of enterprises, tangibly expand the economic rights and
freedoms of economic and entrepreneurial entities. However, the low
qualification of certain officials of supervising bodies still remains
to be an acute problem and negatively affects the work in this
direction.
Along with this, one cannot deny that in many regions and districts
there are displays of corruption, bribery, extortion and abuse of
official status. It is high time to fully eliminate such illegal
phenomena.
The next priority direction is to create yet more favorable conditions
for small business and private entrepreneurship.
For over the last years we have carried out and are still
accomplishing a big work to simplify the registration procedure of
small businesses, filing reports to the tax, financial and statistical
bodies. Nevertheless, it has to be done a lot in this sphere, as well.
Along with this, in the program we need to lay down the concrete
measures on resolving the issues of construction and connecting small
businesses to engineering and communication networks, i.e. the
electrical power and natural gas supplies, as well as water supply and
sewerage system. It is necessary to establish a strict control over
implementation of these measures.
Another important issue is linked with creation of conditions and
benefits on tax and other payments for the sphere of small business
and private entrepreneurship.
Everyone knows well that the measures adopted for over the last years
to further reduce the tax burden for economic entities from 13 percent
in 2005 to 7 percent, or its reduction almost twofold, expanded the
opportunities for the development of small business and private
entrepreneurship.
Starting from 2011 it is envisaged to reduce this figure from 7
percent to 6 percent, which, no doubt, will become a new benefit given
by the state to businessmen and entrepreneurs.
I think that in this direction, not limiting ourselves to the work
being accomplished, we must undertake practical measures to further
improve the system of allocation of midterm and long-term credits to
small businesses and private entrepreneurship for modernization and
technological renovation of production and resolving available
problems.
It is necessary to attach especially important significance to
tackling the issues of participation of small businesses and
entrepreneurship in the sphere of foreign economic activity, as well
as regional and world markets.
We need to dwell yet on another issue worth a close attention. At the
moment, in Uzbekistan the small business and private entrepreneurship
are mainly concentrated in the sphere of commerce, services and
communication, as well as reprocessing agricultural products. Along
with this, it is necessary to create broad opportunities to develop
small business and private entrepreneurship in industrial branches,
organize modern high technological innovative industries in the
spheres of nanotechnologies, pharmacology and pharmaceuticals,
information-communication and biotechnologies, apply alternative
energy, and in a word, to open up a way for the development of small
business and private entrepreneurship based on the advanced
achievements of science.
I would like to especially note that here I have dwelled briefly just
on certain aspects and priority directions, which must be laid down in
the program.
It goes without saying that in order to fill the program with a
concrete substance and implement the outstanding tasks it is necessary
to create by a governmental resolution a special working commission,
deeply and thoroughly elaborate each direction with involvement of
leading specialists, above all, the entrepreneurs themselves.
I think that the state and non-state organizations, small businesses,
farmers and entrepreneurs, in a word, a broad public shall take an
active part in this work with their thoughts and practical proposals.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to repeat once again: the small
business and entrepreneurship must become a solid buttress of our
society, its well-being, today’s and future development of our
country.
I am confident that exactly such a view and exactly such an approach
will become a main guideline in our further activity, above all, in
resolving very important and outstanding tasks before us.
I wish all of you a strength and energy, as well as new successes in
achieving this goal.
Dear compatriots!
Once again I congratulate all of you on the Constitution Day and wish
you a sound health, peace and abundance to your households.
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