September 12, 2014
President Islam Karimov holds bilateral talks as part of SCO summit meeting. 2
The export potential of Uzbekistan’s fruit-and-vegetables sector2
Uzbekistan has started the creation of ‘electronic university’5
policy
President Islam Karimov holds bilateral talks as part of SCO summit meeting
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov arrived September 11 in the capital of Tajikistan to take part in a regular session of the Council of the Heads of State of Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
This year, the meeting of the highest decision-making body of the SCO is taking place in Tajikistan as part of the latter’s presidency in the organization.
Upon arrival in Dushanbe, President Islam Karimov met with President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani, who arrived here to attend the summit as head of an observer nation in the SCO. The two sides discussed the current state of bilateral relations across a variety of spheres, and exchanged views on their further development, including in the trade and economic realm.
A prospective dimension of the bilateral cooperation is the transport and communications sector. In 2001, an agreement was signed to establish a railway corridor along Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Oman. It is worth mentioning that the initiative (timely, as it is noted by countries participating in the project) of launching this trans-regional transport corridor comes from the President of Uzbekistan. The scheme is expected to facilitate further expansion of mutually advantageous trade-economic ties between the nations of Central Asia and the Near and Middle East. The economic potential of this project, as experts suggest, is rather high, because the convenient access to new markets may eventually attract, for instance, China and Russia.
Later that day, the President of Uzbekistan met with the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon. The heads of our two states exchanged views across a variety of issues in the bilateral and regional agenda, including the situation in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, the President of Tajikistan expressed gratitude for a meaningful conversation. At the sate time, Emomali Rahmon stressed the timeliness and effectiveness of the constructive initiatives of Uzbekistan dedicated to uplifting the international standing of the SCO.
Following the negotiations with the host of the summit meeting, President Islam Karimov held talks with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
To date, the relations between our two nations are characterized with a mutually advantageous orientation. Trade and economic bonds have been advancing dynamically, which is suggestive by the volume of bilateral turnover that amounted to 7.1 billion US dollars in 2013. An important factor in this is the agreement and normative base that comprises almost 200 interstate, intergovernmental and interagency deals and treaties.
During what has been a detailed conversation, Islam Karimov and Vladimir Putin stated the importance of regular dialogue between the two countries.
The Uzbek leader’s visit to Dushanbe continues. The President of Uzbekistan is to take part September 12 in the 14th session of the Council of the Heads of State of Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
(Source: Press-service of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan)
economy
The export potential of Uzbekistan’s fruit-and-vegetables sector
Uzbekistan’s huge resource potential in agriculture allows the country to produce more than 15 million tons of fruit and vegetables a year. The amount of domestically cultivated farm produce is so big that it not only fully meets the population’s demand, but also enables indigenous farmers to export it to foreign markets.
Inimitable in their taste, the fruit and vegetables grown in Uzbekistan are in great request in many countries. That is why their exports tend to increase in terms of volume and profitability alike. The same is true of the geography of Uzbek agricultural exports.
The content of sugar in the local varieties of grapes reaches 30 per cent and the content of dry substances in tomatoes exceeds 5.5 per cent, which is substantially higher than in tomatoes grown elsewhere.
Over the past decade the Republic’s exports volumes of fruit and vegetables almost doubled – from 400,000 tons to more than 800,000 tons, with their value recording an almost 12-fold rise. Such a growth rate of the value of exports versus their volume testifies to the high quality of exported fruit and vegetables, as well as to the ever growing demand in the world marketplace for this sort of farm produce.
By the volume of fruit and vegetables exported to the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan leaves behind several traditionally big suppliers, including Poland, China, Spain, Argentina, Morocco, the SAR and Italy.
It should also be noted that Uzbekistan is the largest supplier of fruit and vegetables to Kazakhstan, where imported fruit and vegetables account for over 50 per cent of the total volume of farm produce in the market, according to UN statistics.
Previously the Republic of Uzbekistan exported fruit and vegetables mainly to Russia and Kazakhstan. But the last few years have seen a substantial rise in demand for its farm produce in the markets of both Europe and Asia.
As a whole, today Uzbekistan supplies fresh and processed fruit and vegetables to more than 80 countries of the world.
A great variety of delicious fruit from Uzbekistan is on sale in the network of REWA hyper-markets in Australia. Besides, they are used as raw materials by Zotter, a renowned firm making elite chocolate. Large retail networks of hyper-markets, such as Germany’s Marap Handels, Russia’s Ashan and others, give preference to the fruit and vegetables grown in Uzbekistan, owing, first and foremost, to their high quality standards and excellent gustatory characteristics.
In the last 2 years, the geography of exports of farm produce from Uzbekistan expanded even further and now covers Norway, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Cyprus, Macedonia, Chili, Japan, Romania, Slovenia, Canada, Bulgaria and the US.
It is thanks to the modern transport-communications infrastructure created in the Republic, the optimal distribution of refrigerating equipment and the preferential tariffs introduced by the National Air Company Uzbekiston Khavo Yullary for flights to “far-abroad” countries that Uzbek fruit and vegetables are transported by air, including via the Navoi International Intermodal Logistics Centre.
Uzbekistan’s fruit-and-vegetables industry enjoys such an immense export potential that in the foreseeable future the country will be able to become one of the world’s biggest exporters of quality farm produce.
The Uzbek government has been systematically monitoring both the state and prospects of exports of fresh and processed fruit and vegetables, with a view to opportunely identifying factors that may hamper the growth of exports and the development of the sector at large. Taking appropriate measures to eliminate the impact of such factors is the next step.
In order to encourage the indigenous farmers to intensify production of export-oriented output and to protect Uzbek enterprises-exporters from the after-effects of the global recession, a complex system of privileges and preferences has been introduced in Uzbekistan.
These include, among other things, a significant simplification of procedures for registration of exportables and a tangible reduction of registration fees. What’s more, a “one-counter” mechanism for registration of export deals with customs authorities has been created. It allows exporters to undergo several official procedures simultaneously: customs registration, declaration, certification, sanitary-epidemiologic inspection etc.
For the purpose of eliminating excessive bureaucratic barriers on the road of developing private property, creating auspicious conditions for the expansion of the scope of entrepreneurial activity, arousing small business’ interest in the intensification of the nation’s exports potential and augmenting the volumes of exports deliveries from the country, the Presidential Resolution No ПП-1604, “On measures to eliminate bureaucratic barriers and to further expand the freedom for entrepreneurial activity” as of 25th August 2011, envisages a no less than two-fold reduction of the rate of fees charged for customs registration of exportable fruit and vegetables starting 1st October 2011. Moreover, an electronic system of exports declaration has been introduced.
To support domestic enterprises and to create a more comfortable environment for their exports activity, the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan registers exported produce day and night, on rest-days, high days and holidays. In addition, the exporters’ applications and requests are considered and tackled as quickly as possible.
Specialized structures have been set up to assist indigenous enterprises-exporters, and above all, small businesses, in dealing with issues that surround standardization, certification and promotion of their produce to foreign markets.
Special attention is devoted to the introduction of modern quality-control systems. Efforts are made to convince local enterprises of the necessity to undergo the certification procedure to ensure that their produce meets all the international standards. This will help them to increase production volumes of export-oriented output.
To intensify production and export of fruit and vegetables from Uzbekistan, the areas under various crops are expanded, by reducing the areas under cotton, for instance.
Steps are taken, together with domestic scientific-research institutions, and on the basis of advanced international experience, to develop such sectors as seed-farming and vine-growing, as well as to introduce the latest production technologies.
Taking into consideration the ever growing demand for farm produce in the global marketplace, complex work is carried out to further improve a given industry. This work includes:
the creation of new high-yielding and competitive varieties of agricultural crops, which suit the ground-climatic conditions of the country’s regions;
the development of intensive gardening;
the introduction of up-to-date agro-technical methods in the production process;
the creation of small tractors and agricultural equipment capable of meeting the production needs of farmers who specialize in gardening, vine-growing and vegetable raising.
The government of the Republic of Uzbekistan has approved the Program of development and strengthening of the material-technical base for fruit-and-vegetables storage in the period 2011-2015. A given document specifies the aims of construction of new refrigerators for the storage of fruit and vegetables and reconstruction of existing ones.
Enterprises operating in the storage sector are granted exemption, till the year 2015, from customs payments for imported refrigerating and storage equipment, spare parts and components, loading and unloading machinery, which are not manufactured domestically and that’s why should be imported under the Program.
The Program’s implementation will lead to putting into operation additional storage capacities, thus making it possible to store 120,800 tons of fruit and vegetables simultaneously. It is planned to earmark 187 billion Soum towards the construction of new refrigerating facilities and reconstruction of operational ones, which are scattered countrywide. This sum is composed of companies’ own funds (71.3 billion Soum) and credits from commercial banks (115.7 billion Soum). (Currency rates of CB from 12.09.2014 1$= 2355.69 soums)
It is supposed, then, that by creating a more efficient procurement-and-storage system and organizing the stable sale of fruit and vegetables in the period between seasons, the value of their exports, thanks to the all-the-year-round availability, may be increased several times.
The Republic’s leaders are paying a great deal of attention to the development of the fruit-and-vegetables sector. The Presidential Decree No ПП-3709,”On measures to intensify economic reforms in fruit-and-vegetables raising and vine-growing” as of 9th January 2006 and the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No ПП-255, “On organizational measures to reform fruit-and-vegetables raising and vine-growing” as of 11th January 2006, specify a range of conditions for the successful development of fruit-and-vegetables raising in the country.
Given high demand for fresh and processed produce of vine-growing, it has been singled out as an independent sector, according to the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No ПП-255,”On organizational measures to reform fruit-and-vegetables raising and vine-growing” dated 11th January 2006. Today the sector is represented by Uzvinprom-Holding.
For the time being, this holding company encompasses 67 wine-making enterprises, 4 of which make alcohol and 63 – wine and hard liquor.
More than 37 varieties of grapes are cultivated in Uzbekistan these days. Over 88.6 thou hectares are under grapes in specialized farms, including 26.6 thou hectares – under European wine varieties.
Modern methods are used to determine the quality of output, as well as to control their production technology throughout the production cycle. Today the Uzbek wines are recognized all over the world, thanks to their excellent characteristics. Demonstrated at various international specialized exhibitions, contests and wine-testing sessions, they have won as many as 147 gold, silver and bronze medals and a plethora of awards.
The Uzbek wines are exported, apart from the CIS member states, to Turkey, Korea, Italy and Japan.
Each year since 2006, the OAO National Exhibition Company Uzexpocenter plays host to the International Specialized Exhibition-Sale of Mini-technologies and Compact Equipment for Agriculture, Uzbekistan Agrominitech Expo, for the purpose of improving the production base of domestic agricultural enterprises.
Over the years of its existence (2006-2013), taking part in the event were 220 companies from 30 countries of the world, including Europe, Israel, South Korea, China, Turkey etc. The exhibition-sale was visited by more than 32,000 representatives of small business, agricultural firms and farms. Upwards of 2,000 contracts were concluded there for the delivery of equipment worth some US $70 million.
As a result of the measures taken by the Uzbek leaders to develop and modernize the production base of agriculture, the nation’s food security tends to solidify. Additionally, efforts are made to maintain stable delivery volumes and prices for farm produce in the home market the whole year round. At the same time, a sharp rise in production and delivery of fruit and vegetables to the home market will enable indigenous farmers to export larger volumes of farm produce from the Republic. Undoubtedly, the reforms carried on these days in all industries of the national economy, agriculture included, will contribute to a further increase in the sector’s exports potential.
(Source: «Business partner.uz» newspaper)
TECHNOLOGIES
Uzbekistan has started the creation of ‘electronic university’
In recent years, the introduction of cutting-edge information and communications technologies has increased the use of computers, projectors, development of internet-portals and e-libraries. It is time for new milestones.
Directive of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education has launched a new stage of information and communications technologies implementation in universities. Creation of ‘electronic university’ is meant to further cut down paper-based workflow and to widen use of information and communications systems in activity of an educational unit. At the same time, the system will allow specialists of the Ministry to request and to get statistical information from any university and any time to make administrative decisions. Moreover, the electronic university system will broaden the range of interactive services of the system of higher education. By the way, the first system of this kind has been already introduced this year. Failed entrants can take their documents back by mail just making an inquiry through the Single portal of the state interactive services.
“Universities differ in the level of readiness for this project,” comments Hurshid Sultanov, head of the department for the introduction of information and communications technologies to educational process of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education. “But the most important point is that we have a center for the introduction of electronic education system to educational units that develops unified software and will help universities to evolve in the right direction.”
To participate fully in the projects universities have to equip completely. Every lecture-room should have at least one computer and video projector. Entrances must be equipped with special turnstiles and students must be supplied with personal pass cards.
What advantages this system can offer to ordinary teachers and students? The main advantages are functionality and comfort of processes. If the system works, traditional call-overs usually at the beginning of a lecture will be gone forever. The lecturer will only have to open a page in the system that indicates all the present and absent students and that is all. All marks will be registered in an electronic log as well and information on progress will be processed electronically. Dean’s office, accounts department, university administration and all other department of a university will get their advantages.
How long will it take to put the project on practice? Specialists of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education plan to finish creation of ‘electronic university’ by 2016, to the moment of the creation of Ta’lim interdepartmental system, which will allow for tracing the educational process of any citizen.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
pharmaceutics
Herbal Pill
Why do Uzbek medicines manufacturers prefer to create medications from local plant raw materials? Who are their partners?
These and other issues have been raised during a conversation with Umarkhon Azizov, Doctor of Chemistry, Deputy Director of the Scientific-Research and Chemistry-Pharmaceutical Institute.
“For the last five years specialists of the Institute have developed and put into production several medications. Medications made of local plant raw materials substitute imported medications of the same effect”.
“Indeed. We are heading to the development of multi-component medications, i.e. those medications produced with the use of biologically active substances isolated from several plants.
Galenika LLC produces the ‘Sharq Tabibi’ balsam – it is an analog for balsams able to distress, mitigate mental and physical fatigue. Uzkhimfarm JSC produces sedative medication ‘Fitopassit’. Together with ‘Navkar Servis’ private business we have approved manufacture of medication made of oak canker ‘Kardiospas’, which rehabilitates heart function. We produce substance and our partners produce medicinal form in a shape of a pill. Till the end of the year Remedi Grupp JSC is going to establish production line of ‘Zerotoks’, a toxicide medicine. Under grants of Coordinating Committee for Development of Science and Technology the Institute develops another several drugs. Among them ‘Glicitrinat’ made of licorice roots for curing gastric ulcer, ‘Apilong’ made of curicula roots and camomile flowers for curing prostatitis, ‘Antidiabeton’ for curing pancreatic diabetes made of eight vulnerary herbs and ‘Urostin’ diuretic made of seven vulnerary herbs.
“I would like to stress that almost all Uzbek developers use local raw materials.”
“Why has local flora become the main source of materials for Uzbek pharmaceutical developers?”
“Herbal medicines are easier to absorb for the human organism and have less side effects. Moreover, they do not provoke ethical issues related to the use of them.
The Coordinating Committee for Development of Science and Technology actively supports development of new drugs made of local raw materials allotting grants. This has its own reasons: all the mentioned medicines have imported analogs made of plants growing abroad. They are coming into Uzbekistan in big lots; many tons of herbal raw materials are to be processed to produce them. At the same time our Uzbek flora counting more than 3,500 species, including herbal plants is left unclaimed. If we use it as pharmaceutical crude, we will be able to propose jobs not only to workers of pharmaceutical businesses, research institutes but also to ordinary people by involving them into materials procurement process – that will make up thousands of job offers.
It is important that isolation of biologically active substances out from plants is the main procedure both in manufacturing and developing of herbal medicines and does not require high-tech equipment. We can produce tons of medicines using the equipment we have now and there are enough high professionals in Uzbekistan to fulfill this task.”
“It is most likely that such developments are supported by government as well as pharmaceutical companies”
“Unfortunately, it is very difficult to interest a pharmaceutical company in joint development of a new medicine. The process is very complicated and time-consuming. It is not enough just to create new formulae and start up production line. Then it must be sold and this requires a large-scale well-designed PR-campaign, which costs a fortune. There are not so many companies in Uzbekistan which can afford to participate in development of new drugs, it is easier to produce well-known generic drugs.”
“Anyway, the number of unique medicines made of local raw materials and produced by local companies is growing. Then, who is the main supporter of a developer-pharmacist?”
“Wit and inventiveness. The Coordinating Committee for Development of Science and Technology allots grants, thus actively supporting development of new medicines. But these funds are insufficient and developers have to search for more. Often, colleagues offer their help. On the final stages after years of research, when it becomes obvious that a really good thing is forthcoming interested companies join in.”
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
culture
‘Faces’ in Gallery
The Fine Arts Gallery of Uzbekistan opens the exhibition ‘Faces of Inspiration’ timed to the 23rd anniversary of the country’s independence.
The exhibition features over 265 canvases, sculptures and actual art pieces, as well as the works created by young attendees of the children’s studio operating at the Gallery.
The main goal of this unique cultural center that opened its doors ten years ago is the popularization of achievements of modern fine art masters, and preservation of the cultural heritage of the country.
The first exhibition opened in the center featured the collection of the art gallery of the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activities, which was founded in 1994. The collection included paintings, graphic works, and sculptures created by masters in the independence years. The Gallery has garnered a rather rich experience in popularization of national art, cultivating high spirituality in young people.
The Gallery regularly organizes exhibitions of works of artists and sculptors from Uzbekistan and abroad. It also runs the creative youth studio ‘5+1’ that implements modern art projects.
A true pride of the Gallery is the collection of old coins and medals, which covers a 2500-year history. It turns a confirmation of deep roots of Uzbekistan’s culture and statehood. The collection has coins of the period of Soghd, Khorazm, Choch, Ustrushan, and Central Asian governors such as Abbasids and Omeyads, and other dynasties.
Diverse art catalogs are published to better popularize the cultural property of Uzbekistan, which are available in museums and show rooms of countries all across the globe.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
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