Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to sign several documents. 2
International Investment Forum in tashkent (November 5-6, 2015) 2
Media World Switches to the Digital Era. 3
POLItiCs
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to sign several documents
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will pay an official visit to Uzbekistan on 7-8 October 2015 on invitation of the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.
According to the press service of the President of Uzbekistan, it is planned to discuss current state and perspectives of further development of bilateral cooperation in political, trade-economic, transport-communication, cultural-humanitarian and other spheres at the next Uzbek-Turkmen high level meeting. The sides will also exchange opinion on actual regional and international issues.
After the negotiations, it is expected that joint statement of the leaders of two states will be adopted. It is also planned to sign several Uzbek-Turkmen documents directed at developing relations in economy, transport, customs, tourism, scientific-technical spheres, as well as in healthcare and sport.
(Source: UzDaily.com)
International Investment Forum in tashkent (November 5-6, 2015)
Dozens of high-tech projects that involve the leading international investors have been underway in Uzbekistan
The oil and gas industry of Uzbekistan is seen as not just as a major driver of economic growth, but also as a platform for partnership with foreign companies and states. Dozens of high-tech projects that involve the leading international investors have been underway in the country.
The implementation of mega projects in the oil and gas industry of Uzbekistan has been in progress despite the difficult situation in the hydrocarbon market. Dozens of ongoing projects throughout the country suggest thousands of new jobs.
New jobs require highly qualified staff since all the projects commissioned are operated by the state-of-the-art equipment. Experts estimate that in the next five years, the oil and gas industry will need more than 4,000 specialists capable of addressing the challenges. Experts have discussed these issues at the International Conference on Staff Training for Oil and Gas Industry in Tashkent.
The participants have studied modern ways and technologies of training professionals for the industry, the opportunities for training workers, engineers and technical staff in Uzbekistan, as well as specified the related needs for the next decade with an eye to many ongoing big investment projects in the field of hydrocarbon production.
As noted by Minister of Economy of Uzbekistan Galina Saidova, today, the industry lacks skilled managers who might administer the complicated and increasingly knowledge-intensive processes.
«The country needs professionals who not just understand the processes, but are vitally interested in the introduction of modern information systems in the industry. It is absolutely obvious that without them we will not be able to bring the oil and gas industry to a modern level, ensure the reduction of production costs taking into account the falling prices for oil and natural gas,” she emphasized.
The involvement of the leading executives from international companies and other countries might be a way out in providing the industry with the staff it needs. This was emphasized by the President in his speeches, when he said that Uzbekistan needed a radical improvement of the corporate governance structure based on international experience.
A branch of the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas in Tashkent is going to be a flagship in this direction, intending to graduate more than 2,000 professionals. The Lukoil Vice-President for HR and Organizational Development Anatoly Moskalenko told about that in his interview to Uzbekistan Today during his visit to Tashkent.
“We intend to launch the first stage of Kandym Gas Processing Plant in 2017. The company has been preparing for that for a long time. In 2016-2017, the Tashkent branch of GRSUOG will graduate the first 300 specialists, who will be taught in line with our requirements. We have also developed a special plan of training staff for our facilities in Uzbekistan, which will determine the promising areas for staff training in the medium term,” he stressed.
The merits of the national education system were also noted by Viktor Martynov, Rector of the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas.
«The graduates of the Tashkent branch of the GRSUOG will shape the foundation of a new stage of development of the Uzbek oil and gas sector. Over seven years of our operation in Uzbekistan we have managed to train hundreds of professionals,” he added.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
Society
Media World Switches to the Digital Era
What should the journalism be like in the era of rapid development of digital technologies? What are the features of a modern journalist, what requirements should it match? What are the practical measures, including legislative ones, to adequately respond to today’s challenges in the media space?
These and many other issues were highlighted during the international conference on the ‘Prospects of Development of the National Journalism: Theory and Practice (International Experience)’ in Tashkent. It was organized by the National Association of Electronic Mass Media of Uzbekistan (NAEMM), the Committee for Information and Communication Technologies of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis, the Parliamentary Commission for Management of Assets of the Public Fund for Support of NGOs and Other Civil Society Institutions under the Oliy Majlis, other state and public organizations, as well as international partners of the Association – OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan, the Regional Office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for Central Asia, the UNESCO and USAID offices in Uzbekistan.
Along with representatives of international organizations and foreign embassies in Uzbekistan, the forum was attended by experts from the US, France, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Russia and other countries, as well as members and senators of the Oliy Majlis, representatives of ministries and departments, civil society, and the media.
Prior to the conference, many participants, including foreign experts, made presentations, conducted master classes at seminars, panel discussions and media trainings for domestic media workers. The guests were introduced to the projects of independent television stations in ‘Bunyodkor’ TV complex, visited the National Association of Electronic Mass Media, and the ‘Mening Yurtim’ TV channel.
FLASHBACK TO THE PAST, GLANCE AT THE PRESENT
The conference was held in three sessions. The first session was dedicated to the development of citizen journalism, social partnership in the field, and the concept of social dialogue ‘media – the state – society’.
In the first session the national experts have made an excursion in the relatively recent past, when in early 1991 the country had a total of four TV channels. It is not worth taking the trouble to remind about their content.
The situation has changed after gaining independence, just like the consciousness of the society. The first private TV was launched in Samarkand, followed by Andijan and Jizzakh. They were the first steps of the young democracy. Positive changes have covered the entire information space of the country. Uzbekistan adopted new laws on freedom of expression, which also regulated the activities of media, and accentuated the importance of advanced journalist skills.
The market of private online media was evolving rapidly. It was time for non-governmental online media to unite their efforts in order to promote their own interests, and build up a civilized market of mass media. In 2003, 50 non-governmental TV stations have merged into an association. Today, it unites 100 members, including over 50 cable TV stations and more than 15 radio and 30 television stations. The growing number of media, high quality of their work, generation of completely new and fresh ideas, views, and creative solutions, is obvious.
It is clear that only free, independent and self-sufficient financial institutions of civil society can effectively carry out their mission. So the establishment of the Public Fund for Support of NGOs and Other Civil Society Institutions under the Oliy Majlis and the Parliamentary Commission for Management of Assets of the Fund in 2008 was very timely. It had paved the way for the formation of an independent, advanced system of state support of NGOs, including the media, based on the democratic principles.
The Parliamentary Commission subsidizes and allocates grants for the media to purchase up-to-date technical equipment and conduct educational events like workshops and trainings with the involvement of national and international experts. In 2009, 9.6 million soums was allocated for the support of media social projects against 970 million in 2014. The dynamics of growth speaks for itself. Since the beginning of 2015, many regional television stations have been awarded grants from 15 to 25 million soums in four grant competitions. The winners of other two competitions were announced a few days ago, evidencing of the support for the private sector of the media, and of the intensifying civic engagement of employees of television stations (currency rates of CB RU from 06.10.2015 1$= 2635.08 soums).
A historic document, a kind of a ‘road map’ for the society and the media in particular, the ‘Concept of intensifying democratic reforms and forming the civil society in the country’, which was initiated by the President of Uzbekistan and approved by the Parliament in 2010, has defined a new stage of media development in the future.
The process of streamlining the legislation has unfolded in the context of reforms. The changes were introduced in the Law ‘On mass media’ (in the new edition), ‘On telecommunications’, and other legislative acts, which have ensured in-depth democratic transformations of the media in the new political environment. Adopted within the framework of the Concept, the Law ‘On transparency of state authorities and administration’ has expanded the bottlenecks in the implementation of the constitutional right of citizens to information, and consequently considerably expanded the media access to information, and the decisions they make. A presidential decree of January 1, 2012 assigned a range of privileges and preferences for the media and publishing houses as a practical step in the implementation of the Concept.
Undoubtedly, all the legislative reforms have a direct impact on the quality of the produced media products. It is obvious today that successful and active operation of media in Uzbekistan has been secured by the extensive legal framework, which is evolving with an eye to the international experience and the current realities. State support for the media is apparently very important, especially in terms of production of socially-oriented media products and enhancement of staff excellence.
IN LINE WITH REFORMS
There are regular educational seminars, trainings and master classes held with the involvement of renowned international experts from the USA, Germany, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Russia and other countries in support of the young journalists’ initiatives. Dozens of events with the participation of international trainers have been held since the beginning of 2015.
Declared the Year of Attention and Care for the Senior Generation, 2015 has become a starting point for a project on production of social advertising, which is carried out by NAEMM with the support of the Parliamentary Commission, PYM Kamolot, Uzreport News Agency, the OSCE, UNESCO, the Conrad Adenauer Foundation. It aims at the establishment of a single mechanism of production and broadcasting quality media content on socially important and socially relevant issues among the NAEMM members, and airing it via cable television broadcasts. The project was supported by heads of nongovernmental television and radio stations and cable television studios. From January to June, 180 commercials have been produced under the project, and broadcast on regional TVs, the ‘Mening Yurtim’ TV channel, and 10 channels of cable TV more than 77,000 times.
It is appropriate to mention the new, most relevant and popular channels ‘Mening Yurtim’ – MY5 and Uzreport, which were launched last year, but have already gained credibility among the audience and made a serious competition to the public channels of NTRC. Their teams are enthusiastic about the introduction of international standards; they regularly hold training seminars and workshops with the involvement of world’s well-known media.
New media entities in the market create a favorable platform for the formation of a holistic information space in the country. Such a strategy, according to the forum participants, would allow Uzbekistan to integrate into the global information space as an equal partner, and dynamically build the capacity of its media market.
“We have heard seven sound, versatile, and analytical reports at the first session,” said chairman of the Committee for Information and Communication Technologies of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis Ilkhom Abdullayev. “As a legislator, I am always interested in what we might improve in terms of legislative regulation in this field in order to address problems and ensure its accelerated development. The forum has brought together several MPs, members of our committee. We are all interested in civic journalism. We have taken a note of many issues, including the problem of media industry, to voice them to the executive authority, and take them into account in our job. Members of Oliy Majlis are open to the public and the media, and are always tuned to an active dialogue, ready to listen and respond to proposals and remarks.
“The issues we have raised are very relevant and interesting, and the discussions were awesome,” shared his impressions Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Czech Radio Jaromir Marek. “As journalists, we must always remember that the audience, the target of our broadcasts, hold a remote control in hand, and have the right to choose; it is they who decide what to watch. The conference featured recommendations on how to make it interesting and keep the remote controls away.”
STAFF TRAINING AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL
The second session was dedicated to the development strategy of the national journalism at the global level of educational services. It highlighted the issues of training highly qualified journalistic staff at the international level, and the need for continuous improvement of their professionalism. Domestic and foreign experts spoke about the present standards in this field, and the criteria for training of specialists.
Deputy Editor-in-Chief of O’zbekiston Channel Barchinoy Jurayeva told about the emerging trend of merging different media. The present day journalism creates new demands, which come to the ability of a journalist to make his/her job effective. A journalist must have an in-depth expertise, be able to handle the job-related devices, and speak foreign languages to be able to produce stories for different media channels concurrently – for periodicals, radio and TV, and mobile media.
“Teaching of journalism has been effectively developing in Uzbekistan,” said UNESCO expert Marius Lukosiunas. “There is a UNESCO tool, which could be applied in this context as it aims at evaluation of the effectiveness of teaching journalism in the country’s universities and training programs in a professional environment. It helps to reveal the strong and weak points, and suggests the ways of making it better and in the right direction. There are 50 indicators for assessing education, which would help Uzbekistan to make a breakthrough in the system of journalistic education.”
The conference participants scrutinized the ways of enhancing the effectiveness of children’s media, and stressed the importance of target journalist training in this area. For instance, as noted by head of the UNICEF Office in Uzbekistan Robert Fuderich, children’s TV programs are popular in every family, so their role in the upbringing of the young generation in the spirit of national values and traditions could hardly be overestimated. The first public children’s channel ‘Bolajon’ was launched in Uzbekistan a year ago, the number of children’s programs on other channels has increased, but their quantity and quality of content is still not sufficient to compete with foreign children’s channels, which are also available in the country owing to cable TV and satellite broadcasting.
Under the current situation, the state and local authorities should support and encourage private television studios for production of children’s TV programs and train journalists for this purpose. On the one hand, that would contribute to upbringing the youth in the spirit of national values, and, on the other hand – to the preservation of the cultural peculiarities of each region. A practice of implementation of the state program on the development of foreign language learning might serve as an example. It has motivated the media for the production of target training programs.
MODERN TECHNOLOGIES ON THE AGENDA
The third session focused on the issues of introduction of modern information technologies in the broadcasting system, and streamlining of the related legal framework.
Representative of the Ministry for Information Technologies and Communications of Uzbekistan Sirojiddin Usmonov detailed the participants about the State Program for the Transition to Digital Broadcasting. In November 2011, Uzbekistan was the first in the CIS space to put into operation an HD format channel of the terrestrial television – Uz.HD. To date, the level of coverage with digital television has exceeded 54%. Modern digital transmitters have been installed in the city of Tashkent, the Tashkent, Samarkand, Khorezm, Bukhara, Andijan, Namangan, Ferghana, Navoi and Kashkadarya regions and Karakalpakstan.
84 high-power transmitters will be installed under the program by the end of 2015 to cover all the major towns of the country and 90% of the population with digital television broadcasting. It is scheduled that 98-99% of the country will be covered by digital TV by the end of 2017, to complete the work in 2018.
The forum also spotlighted the relevant problems that challenge the television and radio market. For example, regional TV channels need to speed up the process of entering into a digital TV, as it will have a positive impact on their economic independence, and provide equal conditions for the competition with the NTRC television stations.
Foreign experts pointed out that digital television is not just a new technological leap, which provides more opportunities for the viewer, but also a great challenge for broadcasters, advertisers and researchers of the media market. The audience of the mass media decides what and when to watch, while the control of TV channels and advertisers has been decreasing.
“Digital technologies have blasted the media market not just due to the higher quality of picture and sound, but also due to an impressive selection of TV channels,” said the OSCE expert Dainius Radzevicius. “Uzbekistan has been confidently pursuing the policy of replacing the analog television with the digital one.”
Domestic and foreign experts stressed that digital TV gives the opportunity for watching much more channels, as it is the key objective of all countries. Meanwhile, developed European countries have also been challenged by the problem that multiplex is very expensive. So each country is seeking for the ways how to help the broadcasters, particularly small ones, to develop in all areas, including the technical aspect.
According to international standards, as emphasized by the forum participants, content producers should have equal rights and opportunities for competition. Ideally, all of them should be provided with the chance to be in multiplex. This needs to be fixed at the legislative level.
The media platform has traditionally become a venue of presentation of new products and ideas, exchange of experiences and views. The conference has helped to identify the promising areas for the media, analyze the current capacity of the TV and radio broadcasting, discussed innovations in the media and development of online journalism. The participants proposed and made recommendations on further development of national journalism and strengthening its active civil stance, improvement of professional level and skills of journalists and technical staff of broadcasters, on the creation of appropriate conditions for introduction of digital information technologies in the media sector for the formation of a competitive media environment in line with international standards. The dialogue of the most iconic personalities of the media space outlined the positions of all representatives of the information field in Uzbekistan for the future. That will help to coordinate state and public organizations in their efforts on ensuring the accelerated development of national journalism.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
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