INFORMATION DIGEST OF PRESS OF UZBEKISTAN # 136

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July 8, 2015

INFORMATION DIGEST OF PRESS OF UZBEKISTAN # 136

July 8, 2015

uzbek_digestOFFICIAL VISIT OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA TO UZBEKISTAN.. 2

Uzbekistan, India to Afford a New Impetus to Bilateral Cooperation. 2

The Visit Proves Prolific. 5

investments. 5

Deal for Advance. 5

Uzbekiston Temir Yollari to issue shares for 86.638bn soums. 6

776 contracts worth 25.7 billion soums signed at the Fair of innovative ideas. 6

Stock Exchange market.. 6

Turnover at the Republican Stock Exchange “Toshkent” in the first half of the year reached 80 billion soums  6

BUSINESS CLIMATE.. 7

Bankers Set the Rules. 7

National Airways of Uzbekistan.. 8

The Cargo and Its Height 8
 

 


OFFICIAL VISIT OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA TO UZBEKISTAN

Uzbekistan, India to Afford a New Impetus to Bilateral Cooperation

As it was reported earlier, at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi arrived July 6 in Tashkent on an official visit.

The Uzbek-Indian relations are distinct with high level of bilateral interaction that is built on the centuries-old history of multifaceted friendly bonds between our two peoples.

India has been well known in our country from times immemorial as a land with rich history and unique culture, which our people is tied with ages-old cultural and trade relations. Yet crucially the two lands have been linked with earnest friendship.

Much in history, literature, music, arts and architecture of the Uzbek and Indian peoples and their mutual enrichment is associated with the name of our great ancestor, Zahiriddin Muhammad Babur.

Major events within the official visit by the Prime Minister of the Republic of India took place at the Kuksaroy residence.

Following the ceremony of meeting the high-ranking guest, Islam Karimov and Narendra Modi held talks in a contracted format.

“We consider your first official visit to Uzbekistan as a notable event in the sociopolitical lives of our two countries, as a critical new stage in the advancement and consolidation of historically established Uzbek-Indian friendly relations,” Islam Karimov stated.

Narendra Modi stressed that Uzbekistan is one of India’s most reliable and important partners in Central Asia, and that the current visit opens up a good opportunity to boost the bilateral ties and take them to a new, higher level.

It was noted by the two sides that the urgency of these negotiations rises if one takes into account the swiftly changing situation in the world, the mounting conflicts, the tension and the geopolitical rivalry at the global and regional layers, the expanding phenomena of terrorism, extremism and radicalism, manifesting – overtly or indirectly – in the Central Asian region, as well.

The critical analysis, assessment of the current state and prospects of relations between Uzbekistan and India is one of the most pressing issues on the agenda, which gave start to the talks of Islam Karimov and Narendra Modi. Then on, the two sides exchanged views in detail across a diversity of topics, affording in particular a new potent impetus to the Uzbek-Indian relations by way of mobilizing the hitherto unused opportunities and capacities, enhancing the scales of cooperation in the political, economic, investment and cultural-humanitarian areas.

President Karimov and Prime Minister Modi thoroughly discussed the current regional and international issues that our two nations are equally concerned with. In particular, the sides swapped visions on the situation and developments unfolding in Afghanistan and agreed that they are unanimous in the idea that the crisis has no military solution. Greater emphasis ought to be placed on the provision of economic aid to Afghanistan, to the implementation of social, infrastructure and humanitarian projects, to addressing issues related to the employment of population as well as the most pressing challenges in combating poverty, destitution and lawlessness. It is essential to display unconditional respect to the ages-old traditions, customs and values of the people of Afghanistan.

As it was put, establishment of peace and harmony on that much-troubled land is in the interests of all the peoples of the region and is one of many factors in achieving common region-wide goals and objectives.

From the economic perspective, the soonest institution of peace and stability in Afghanistan would not merely bolster and enhance regional cooperation, but also facilitate the formation and development of economically beneficial routes that make the markets of India and Central Asia closer.

It was underscored that the community and similarity of approaches to addressing the core regional and global issues is reliable bedrock for the interaction of sides within the frameworks of international organizations. Our two countries support each other’s initiatives during summits of the United Nations as well as nominations to various UN agencies, and they interact dynamically within other international and regional institutions.

The two countries maintain inter-parliamentary contacts. Political consultations are held regularly between the foreign affairs ministries.

As it was noted, the robust normative foundation of the relations between Uzbekistan and India, and primarily the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership signed in 2011, expands the opportunities for boosting the cooperation across a broad spectrum of dimensions, including all aspects of political, economic, cultural-humanitarian spheres, which the two sides consider mutually advantageous.

Islam Karimov and Narendra Modi continued negotiations with the participation of official delegations of the two countries. The focus was on issues pertinent to the promotion of trade-economic, financial, investment, cultural-humanitarian cooperation.

Current issues in the bilateral trade-economic relations are discussed and tackled during sessions of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation. Islam Karimov and Narendra Modi said that the commission is expected to become an effective mechanism in the realization of agreements reached at the highest level on all the directions of shared interest.

The sides stressed the interest of public institutions and private businesses of the two countries in further building up and diversifying the reciprocal supplies of goods and services, in setting up joint ventures in high-tech sectors of the economy, such as information technologies and telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and biotechnologies, light and chemical industries, as well as prospecting and development of hydrocarbon deposits.

To date, 82 enterprises with the participation of Indian capital and representative offices of 22 firms and companies of India operate in Uzbekistan.

Despite the growth in the indicators of mutual trade (twofold increase within the past four years), the turnover between Uzbekistan and India does not meet the potential of the two countries’ economies. The volume reached 315.9 million U.S. dollars in 2014 (growth by 21.2 percent). Given that the economic relations constitute a foundation for the strategic partnership, the two sides agreed to bolster the interaction in order to shore up the volumes of turnover and diversification of the range of goods in it, including by encouragement of direct contacts among the representatives of business by way of the arrangement of trade fairs and other events.

Representatives of Indian business are particularly interested in the opportunities provided by the transcontinental intermodal hub at the airport of the city of Navoi. Currently, this international hub operates regular flights to major transit points of the world, including such industrial centers of India like New Delhi and Mumbai. Likewise, of great interest for the Indian business community are the possibilities of Jizzakh and Angren special industrial zones.

The development of investment cooperation to establish high-tech industries jointly with leading Indian companies is a priority dimension. A success story on this front has been the collaboration with companies Minda and Olive Teelecommunications in the Navoi Free Industrial Economic Zone.

Joint ventures like Nova Pharm, Bravo Pharma, Ultra Health Care and Gufic Avicenna, among others, have been effectively operating in the pharmaceuticals sector.

Uzbekistan is interested in further attracting Indian high-tech companies to the implementation of joint projects in the organization of production of ready-made industrial goods in demand, including chemical products, modern and highly effective medicines as well as new types of construction materials.

The partnership in the healthcare sector has been dynamic, too. In Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, Ferghana and other cities of Uzbekistan, specialists of Indian clinics constantly conduct medical examinations and provide patients with consultations on cardio surgery, neuro-surgery, nephrology, oncology, hepatology, orthopedics and other areas of healthcare. Medical workers of Uzbekistan and India exchange within programs of retraining and attending specialized courses in the clinics of the two countries.

An important direction of cooperation is the further expansion of the mutually advantageous interaction in the field of air transport. Uzbekiston Havo Yullari National Airway Company conducts regular flights from Tashkent to New Delhi and Amritsar.

The cultural-humanitarian exchange has seen dynamism lately. Thus, starting from the year 1993 within the frameworks of the Indian program of technical and economic assistance, more than a thousand Uzbek specialists in information technologies, English, banking, small business, management, agriculture and other fields have been trained in India.

Hindi language is taught at the Tashkent Institute of Oriental Studies. The Mahatma Gandhi Center of Indian Studies that hosted a number of international conferences last year has operated at this Institute since 2008.

Uzbek language courses are organized at the University of Jami Milli in Delhi.

Currently, the higher education institutions of Uzbekistan cooperate with more than 10 Indian universities and research institutions and centers. Dynamic has been the partnership in science; a number of research institutions of Uzbekistan’s Academy of Sciences interact and conduct joint research projects with academic centers in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune.

Indian masters of arts are regular participants of the Sharq Taronalari International Music Festival in Samarkand. The Indian singer Rashmi Agarwal became Grand-Prix winner of the festival in 2013.

The athletes of Uzbekistan and India have been active in tournaments on diverse types of sports organized in the two countries. The Association of Uzbek National Kurash is set up in India.

Following the negotiations, the two sides signed a joint declaration of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of India. The bilateral documents inked included those on cooperation in the field of tourism, on the further interaction between the foreign affairs ministries, Program of Cooperation in the Cultural Sphere for 2015-2017.

At a meeting with representatives of mass media, Islam Karimov and Narendra Modi said that they had a fine opportunity to discuss in detail the current state and prospects of the bilateral cooperation in political, trade-economic, investment and cultural-humanitarian areas. They exchanged views on regional and international affairs of shared interest. It was stressed that the positions, views and evaluations on all issues considered are close or they concur. Uzbekistan and India highly value the level of relations between our two peoples who are tied with ages-old historical, cultural and humanitarian bonds, and the Joint Declaration as well as a range of important intergovernmental and inter-agency documents penned during the visit will open up extensive prospects for the enhancement of cooperation across a great diversity of areas.

The two sides expressed confidence that the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Uzbek-Indian dialogue at the highest level create a good basis for triggering a potent impetus to the development of bilateral cooperation. The visit will serve as reliable bedrock for the new stage of mutual relations characterized as strategic partnership in all dimensions of interaction on a long-term basis.

The official visit of the Prime Minister of the Republic of India to the Republic of Uzbekistan continues.

(Source: Press-service of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan)

The Visit Proves Prolific

While on official visit in Uzbekistan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi, accompanied by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoev, traveled to the Shastri Square in Tashkent on July 7.

The high-ranking guest laid flowers to the monument of the outstanding politician and statesman of India – Lal Bahadur Shastri.

The Indian nation has always held Uzbekistan and our people with high respect. In January 1966, Lal Bahadur Shastri, then the Prime Minister of India, visited Tashkent. The Shastri Indian Cultural Center and a general education school that specializes in the study of Hindi are functioning in Tashkent.

Narendra Modi noted that the Shastri Monument in Uzbekistan is a manifestation of historically friendly relations between our two countries and peoples.

The high-ranking guest also visited the Mustaqillik Square and laid wreath to the Monument of Independence and Humanism, a symbol of our freedom, bright future and noble aspirations.

The Prime Minister of India stressed in particular that this monument erected at the initiative of President Islam Karimov is a unique memorial complex that embodies Uzbekistan’s peace-bound policies, gracious aspirations of our people on the way wellbeing and prosperity.

“In the independence years, colossal achievements are made in Uzbekistan in all spheres under the leadership of President Islam Karimov. The Monument of Independence and Humanism, as a symbol of this development and prosperity, makes an indelible impression on each person with its profound meaning and substance. This inimitable architectural ensemble plays an important role in the promotion of the ideas of peace, good and humanism, in the demonstration of the creative potential of the people of Uzbekistan and the consolidation of its confidence in the future,” the Indian Prime Minister suggested.

That drew conclusion to the official visit of the Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi to the Republic of Uzbekistan. The head of Indian government emphasized that his visit to Uzbekistan proved rather fruitful.

(Source: Press-service of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan)

investments

Deal for Advance

In the third quarter of 2015 the Uzbekenergo Company is planning to proceed to the selection of a general contractor for the construction of two combined cycle power plants (CCPP) at Takhiatash Thermal Power Plant.

The project envisages the construction of two combined cycle power plants 230-280 MW each, dismantle three operating units and freeze two others as a reserve, raise energy efficiency and increase the volume of electricity generated in Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region.

The Takhiatash TPP has been a major source of electricity for Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region. The Asian Bank estimates that the demand for electricity in the region is going to double in the short term. It is expected that by 2020 its consumption in the region will exceed 3,620 billion KW/h with a maximum load of 620 MW. Therefore, there is a need to provide the industrial sector and the population with a reliable source of energy in advance.

The total cost of the project exceeds $678 million. It will be funded by a loan of the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan ($230.7 million), equity of Uzbekenergo ($130 million), and the Asian Development Bank loan ($300 million).

In the next five years the company plans to implement projects on the construction of new combined-cycle plants with total capacity of 1,970 MW in Tashkent, Tolimarjon, Navoi and Takhiatash TPPs. In order to provide the plants with the skilled staff Uzbekistan has reached an agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency on the establishment of a training center for the operation and maintenance of combined-cycle plants in Tashkent. It will be equipped with the latest technologies.

(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

Uzbekiston Temir Yollari to issue shares for 86.638bn soums

Uzbekiston Temir Yollari (Uzbekistan Railways) will issue an additional emission of ordinary shares for about 86.638 billion soums (currency rates of CB RU from 08.07.2015   1$= 2560.42 soums ).

The shareholders of the company adopted decision on issuing additional 201,483,576 ordinary shares with par value of 430 soums each.

The shares will be placed on closed subscription to the State Competition Committee of Uzbekistan.

The company said that the shares will be paid via transferring state assets to the balance of Uzbekiston Temir Yollari.

(Source: UzDaily.com)

776 contracts worth 25.7 billion soums signed at the Fair of innovative ideas

The results of the 8th Republican fair of innovative ideas, technologies and projects were at the focus of press conference organized by the Ministry of Economy of Uzbekistan on June 6.

As was noted at the press conference, more than 100 scientific organizations presented their innovations in such areas of industry as, agriculture, health, pharmaceuticals, and information technology. According to representatives of the Ministry of Economy of Uzbekistan, 604 scientific and technological developments were presented at the fair, 387 or 64% of which were presented for the first time.

It is worth noting that during the fair of innovative ideas, technologies and projects, developers of scientific and technical products and consumers concluded in total 776 contracts worth over 25.7 billion soums (currency rates of CB RU from 08.07.2015 1$= 2560.42 soums).

– A number of new directions were opened at the fair this year. In particular, to draw attention and investment of domestic and foreign manufacturers to the most advanced technologies, the “High Technology” direction was created. For industrial enterprises, small and private businesses we can note a new section entitled “Energy-saving technologies.” The fair also presented 70 developments of young scientists, students and the winners of the contest “Innovative ideas of the youth”, said Head of the department of the Ministry of Economy of Uzbekistan, Aziz Dilmurodov.

It was especially noted that in the framework of the fair the Tashkent International Innovation Forum was organized for the first time. The Forum was attended by 39 foreign participants, including 20 foreign scientists and experts from the US, Germany, Italy, as well as 19 representatives of international organizations located in Tashkent.

(Source: UzReport.uz)

Stock Exchange market

Turnover at the Republican Stock Exchange “Toshkent” in the first half of the year reached 80 billion soums

In the I half of 2015 the number of transactions at the Republican Stock Exchange (RSE) “Toshkent” has reached a record rate over the past five years – 1258 pcs., which is almost three times higher than the figure for the same period of the last year (437 deals) and 1,3 times more than at the end of 2014 (893 deals).

Significant growth occurred also on exchange turnover of securities, which amounted to 80 billion soums, which is 2.2 times more than during the six months of the last year (37 billion soums) (currency rates of CB RU from 08.07.2015   1$= 2560.42 soums ).

138.6 million pieces of securities of 50 issuers took part in the bidding.

The structure of total exchange turnover is significantly dominated by the secondary market circulation of securities – 81% of the total turnover or 64.6 billion soums, – 0.4 billion soums of which – deals with corporate bonds. Thus, the volume of secondary market compared to the same period in 2014 rose nearly by four times (17.3 billion soums).

The share of the primary placement of securities amounted to 19.2% or 15.4 billion soums.

The banking sector leads in the sector-wise, which accounts for 94.8% of the exchange’s turnover or 75.8 billion soums. The greatest volume of transactions was concluded with the shares of “Mortgage Bank” – 43.1 billion soums, or 57% of the total turnover of securities of commercial banks and 54% of the total exchange turnover.

At that an increase of activity of investors – individuals could be observed in the reporting period, the number of registered transactions of which amounted to 1011, or almost 80% of the total number of transactions. The share of investments of individuals in the total turnover made 9%, or 7.2 billion soums.

In the I half of the year, 10 joint stock companies were included in the quotation list of the exchange, ie, listing, includes: 3 in stock category “B” – «Capital Sugurta», «Silk Road Insurance», «Baliqchi»; 3 in the category “C” – «Sredazenergosetproekt», «Namangan Ulgurji Savdo», «Mapg‘ilon fayz savdo kompleksi» and 4 in category “P” -« Qurlish Birlashmasi »,« UPP », «O‘zkommaishiysavdo »,« Angren-PACK ».

Two joint-stock companies – Bukhara “Kishlokhuzhalikkime” and “Hazarasp Paxta Tozalash” were delisted.

In order to create favorable conditions for attraction to the stock market the largest possible number of potential investors, including foreign ones, and in the framework of the program of measures to radically improve the corporate governance system adopted by the Presidential Decree on 04.24.2015, “On measures on implementation of modern methods of corporate governance in joint stock companies”, a new section for trade in derivative financial instruments (derivatives), as well as several shopping areas were created, including:

– on private placement of shares among existing shareholders and a public offering of shares through IPO;

– currency trading platform, which is designed for transactions in foreign currency;

– trading platform for transactions with the participation of individuals, which provides the simplification of settlements between individuals, bypassing the clearinghouse of the exchange.

At the same time, registration of transactions with securities on the stock exchange is carried out in electronic form (without paper processing) using digital signatures, which greatly simplifies and shortens the procedure of registration of contracts on purchase and sale of securities.

(Source: UzReport.uz)

BUSINESS CLIMATE

Bankers Set the Rules

Uzbekistan Banking Association has developed a Code of Banker Ethics. The document, according to experts, is designed to speed up the formation of transparency and fair competition in the credit and financial sector, as well as improve services in line with international standards.

According to the developers, the document aims at strengthening business cooperation and specifying the basic standards of ethical behavior to be followed by all bank employees. The implementation of the requirements for business and professional ethics, which is applicable to rendering services to clients, including small businesses and private entrepreneurs, by banks and other organizations, their executives and employees, will be an additional guarantee, a proof and pledge of their professionalism and reliability, the compliance with the country’s legislation and with the universally acknowledged moral and ethical standards.

The Code has several specific requirements for the staff. For example, bank employees should prevent the bureaucracy and red tape when rendering services, manifest attention and kindness to the clients. They should suppress any discrimination during employment, remuneration of labor and promotion, work on establishing decent working conditions that would stimulate the professional growth, and strengthen health and social welfare of the employees.

The document assigns a special part to the modern trends of development of the corporate culture. It obligates the bank with avoiding the infringement on its shareholders’ rights, ensuring their involvement in the bank’s operations, achieving transparent performance of its executives, etc.

Certain provisions stipulate the punishment for non-observance of the Code rules. A culpable bank may be dismembered of the Association, and its employee may be imposed with administrative measures as defined by each bank independently.

(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

National Airways of Uzbekistan

The Cargo and Its Height

The National Airways of Uzbekistan has been intensively developing its own cargo fleet. In the last seven months alone, the two first domestic air ‘trucks’ have performed 109 regular and 21 charter cargo flights, and transported over 6,000 tons of cargo.

The project on reequipping two passenger aircrafts into a cargo version of Boeing-767-300BCF was initially a fairly risky initiative in terms of economic payback. In conditions of recession in the Asian economies, and China showing the worst growth performance over the last decade, the boost of air cargo, being a fairly specific market, is not likely to come.

Despite the challenge, supported by the government the National Uzbekistan Airways renounced leasing aircrafts and embarked on building its own cargo fleet in line with international standards and requirements. The strategic goal implied the establishment of an effective system of air traffic on the basis of the inter-modal logistics center at the Navoi airport, so that the aircrafts might fly to any part of the world at a customer’s request.

Many airports around the world have imposed strict requirements for aircraft engine noise and exhaust, so only the most advanced equipment is capable to meet them. Therefore, the customers’ requirements for the carriage of goods, particularly in European cities, might be fulfilled solely by the technologically advanced crafts with an efficient fuel-consumption system. The two Boeings-767-300BCF of the national airline appeared the most suitable to take up the challenge. At the same time, their reconstruction was not an oddity: today it ranks among the major trends in the global airline industry. It allows maintaining the operation of the aircrafts that are technically obsolescent for passenger services.

The creation of a permanent portfolio of customers in a short period of time ranks among the achievements of the domestic ‘air trucks’. Let’s take, for instance, the recent first charter flight Guangzhou-Navoi-Tashkent-Astana-Navoi. 30 tons of lighting equipment was delivered from China to the capital of Kazakhstan. Regular cargo flights from Navoi to Shanghai and Amsterdam have been launched. Nearly 50 tons of fruits and vegetables were carried from Uzbekistan to the Moscow airport of Domodedovo as part of the expansion of the export capacity of agricultural industry.

(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

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