October 29, 2014
The volume of deposits in commercial banks of Uzbekistan amounted to 26.8 trillion soums. 2
Addressing Aral Issues as Pressing Challenge. 2
At the Same Time and on the Same Venue. 3
Contest among Musicians of Folk Instruments. 5
FINANCE
The volume of deposits in commercial banks of Uzbekistan amounted to 26.8 trillion soums
For the first 9 months of 2014, the volume of deposits in commercial banks of Uzbekistan in comparison with the figures of the corresponding period last year grew by 30.4 percent, and at the start of the fourth quarter of the current year amounted to 26.8 trillion soums. (Currency rates of CB from 29.10.2014 1$= 2383.98 soums)
These figures have been given on the regular enlarged meeting of the Board of the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which reviewed the results of the activities of the banking system during the first nine months of 2014.
At the event it was noted that a stable position of domestic banks, the growth of public confidence in the banks, and increase of the real income of the population serve as a strong basis for attracting free funds of the population and economic entities in bank deposits. Source
(Source: UzReport.uz)
international conference “Promotion of Cooperation in the Aral Sea Region to Alleviate the Impact of Environmental Catastrophe”
Addressing Aral Issues as Pressing Challenge
An international conference is due October 28-29 in Urgench to discuss cooperation in the region of the Aral Sea basin in order to weather the impact of an environmental catastrophe. UzA reporters have had a conversation with some of its participants.
Neno Kukuric, Director of the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Center (IGRAC), the Netherlands:
“The Aral problem is a pressing challenge that concerns not only a certain country or a region, but also the entire world community. The conference to take place in Urgench will facilitate the further consolidation of cooperation directed at smoothing the consequences of the environmental catastrophe in the region, implementing effective programs and projects designed to improve the ecological situation.
“The most acceptable way of preventing water shortage is its rational and effective use. Noteworthy is a set of measures to promote economical, targeted and rational use of water in Uzbekistan. We have been working on this front with ministries and other government agencies of Uzbekistan to elaborate and implement joint projects.”
Ismail Mahbob, Director of the Export-Import Bank, Malaysia:
“I am glad that on the eve of the international conference my dream has come true – I have arrived in so beautiful a country like Uzbekistan. Happy to have had an opportunity to visit unique architectural, historical monuments, shrines in such ancient and at the same time modern cities as Tashkent and Samarkand. I have come to be convinced that Uzbekistan has a vast potential in tourism. It is no accident that the majority of Malaysians demonstrate a keen interest in your country. After all, every inch of land and every corner of it is sacred in this splendid and paradise-like country.
“I have inquired into the activities of a few banks in Tashkent and got confident that a stable and reliable banking system in Uzbekistan.
We believe that the conference in Urgench will have an important significance in addressing the problems in the Aral region.”
Juan Alberti, Director of Oproler, Spain:
“Our company produces advanced machinery and technologies for water cleaning and the energy sector. We are glad to offer our products and services to Uzbek specialists, and establish close and active cooperation ties in this direction.
“Minimization of the negative impact of the Aral catastrophe to the environment and for the lives of people is regarded as an important task of these days. I think during the international conference effective projects on this front will be worked out jointly with the world community.
“At the conference we intend to study the expertise of Uzbekistan and other countries in the rational use of water resources, exchange views, attain information and hold negotiations for the implementation of joint schemes.”
(Source: UzA)
EXPOSITION
At the Same Time and on the Same Venue
The current global economy is increasingly becoming hostage to geopolitical turbulences, despite the fact that the global financial and economic crisis is far from being overcome. The present situation in the world has forced many countries to reconsider their priorities in industrial policy and embark on the path of economic modernization, where Uzbekistan is no longer a novice. The country’s position is simple. In the conditions of uncertainty and pointlessness of making forecasts; there is a need to have a clearly built development strategy based primarily on internal resources like import substitution and localization, stimulation of domestic demand, and support for the real economy sector.
EACH SECTOR IN ITS OWN WAY
The world has become global, so economic systems of many countries are interlinked. A crisis or a downstream in the so-called drivers of the world economy – China, USA, Japan and Germany – would have a negative impact on each nation. There is only one way out – to jointly build an effective and equitable system of financial and economic relations with the fair competition as a major factor. In such conditions, the introduction of energy-efficient equipment and innovative technologies, international management and quality control systems, close partnership with other industries and foreign partners comes to the fore.
Therefore, Uzbekistan organizes a great diversity of forums and exhibitions or academia, businesspeople, machinery manufacturers, officials of government agencies, banks, insurance corporations, leasing companies and donors to find common ground and trigger new initiatives. An international cross sectoral project of Central Asian Industrial Week traditionally stands out from this cohort. It is hardly surprising though, since the halls of the Uzexpocenter combine several exhibitions under this one project each year. This time around the organizers have set a record, presenting products across six industries – mechanical engineering, chemical and mining industries, road construction, printing and packaging.
The week can be regarded as a kind of integrator and communicator of interests of interdependent and often concurrently developing sectors. It serves as a fine opportunity to showcase and promote the advanced manufacturing equipment, technologies and products, and for domestic and foreign producers exchange expertise.
The thematic focus of the exposition is divided into two major sectors. The first is designed for the mining industry, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, industrial construction and construction machinery, while the second sector demonstrates achievements in the chemical industry, production of plastics, polymers, packaging and printing.
This year’s week has proved eventful as never before: the business program has included numerous meetings, presentations, panel discussions and negotiations between exhibitors, businesspeople and professionals. For example, several foreign companies specializing in information and communication technologies presented their products for various industries. At the same time, in the next showroom, miners and metallurgists discussed prospects of evolution of the coal industry, modern methods of exploration, radio technologies in the mining sector and other relevant topics as part of the international conference MiningWorld Uzbekistan 2014. The next day, the dialogue continued under another discussion platform – at an international conference entitled Investment potential of solid minerals in Uzbekistan -Uzgeoinvest2014′.
In general, the combined exposition of exhibitions under the Central Asian Industrial Week presented over 100 companies from 18 countries, including the leaders of industrial production – Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, China, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Korea and others.
KEY STIMULI
Today, the rapidly developing Uzbek economy ranks among the leaders both in the region, and in the CIS space. It is this movement forward that attracts the growing number of investors and manufacturers who express will to boost the Uzbek market. At the same time, it has become one of the key incentives for the integrated demonstration of the latest proposals for the basic industries of Uzbekistan under a single project at the same time and on the same platform.
From the very first steps of independence Uzbekistan chose a policy of industrial modernization, privatization, and attraction of foreign investment and introduction of new technologies. As a result of socio-economic reforms and the transfer of public property, a significant part of tne industry began to be owned by private domestic and foreign companies. This has allowed to not just completely retool the leading industries within a short period of time, but also to generally get the economy less energy-intensive, and therefore more competitive and efficient.
There are powerful, and in some cases unique, enterprises in Uzbekistan representing virtually all industrial sectors. Moreover, about a quarter of engineering products in Central Asia are manufactured in Uzbekistan. The volume of industrial production in the country in the first half of 2014 increased by 8.1% YOY and amounted to 34.6 trillion soums. The dynamics was contributed by government investments in industrial development, the volume of which is expected to exceed $30 billion by 2015. The specially elaborated program of industrial development of Uzbekistan, designed till the end of next year, includes 158 long-term investment projects worth more than $10.9 billion. Its phased implementation will allow for industrial production growth from 8.3% in 2011 to 11.8% in 2015. The industrial output is to multiply from 30.7 trillion soums to 50.4 trillion soums. These measures, according to experts, are going to increase the share of industry in Uzbekistan’s GDP from 23.9% to 28%. (Currency rates of CB from 29.10.2014 1$= 2383.98 soums)
Benefits and preferences for the enterprises implementing modernization projects serve as the main incentives to meet the abovementioned tasks. For instance, they are exempt from customs duties on equipment, materials and components that are imported under the program projects by the end of next year. This, in turn, is a good motivation for the world’s biggest manufacturers of hardware and technologies to supply Uzbekistan with the latest models of their equipment.
Focus on localization and import substitution is another noticeable trend of the exhibitions. This approach of Uzbek companies and their foreign partners is quite obvious – promoting the manufacture of components in Uzbekistan instead of their importation significantly cuts the final cost of production, and hence providing for a competitive advantage. Besides, establishing new industries and boosting the production of new goods helps to satisfy the domestic demand, and avoid dependence on imports as well as on the state of affairs in the global market coupled with geopolitical situation.
In Uzbekistan, the localization has become one of the landmarks of the industrial development. It is reflected in annual development programs and the extensive list of preferences and privileges for businesses implementing related projects. These processes are especially evident in the domestic chemical industry. Uzkimyosanoat is working towards implementation of 14 long-tem projects on the manufacture of new products with high added value, as well as modernization of existing facilities. The end of 2019 is the closing period for these schemes. It is planned to build an olefins production complex worth $1.27 billion by 2018 in conjunction with Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company. The new production facility’s capacity is 500 thousand tons of methanol, 190 thousand tons of ethylene, 150 thousand tons of PVC and 90,000 tons of caustic soda. The list also includes the establishment of annual production of 150 thousand tons of compound fertilizers in the Navoi Region worth $380 million, and modernization of Farghonaazot worth $390 million.
The exposition of the road construction equipment has been perhaps the most spectacular. For many years, it brings together the interests of suppliers and manufacturers of special machines and equipment, demonstrating the prospects of road sector development in the country. In the first half of 2014, the enterprises and organizations within the structure of the Uzavtoyul state joint-stock company built and repaired roads for 564.4 billion soums. By the end of 2015, it is intended to build and reconstruct 2,306 km of roads within the National Highway, of which 1,410 km are in the process of construction and reconstruction, and 896 km of roads have been upgraded from 10 tons axle load to 13 tons.
Today the country has one of the best infrastructures in the region, ranging from high-speed trains, airports, and highways to modern power networks and the capacities generating energy in environmentally friendly ways, currently under construction. At the same time, Uzbekistan is developing promising areas, focusing on best practices adopted from many foreign industrial giants. These technological fields, the projects of which are complicated and require significant financial and time costs, have actually become the engines of cooperation. Conferences and exhibitions were a start up for such schemes. That is why the partnerships established between the participants of exhibition events are unique: they do not just focus on expanding their production, but also seek for the opportunities of implementation of big investment and technology projects that could bring certain domestic industries to a new level.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
Art
Contest among Musicians of Folk Instruments
The State Conservatory of Uzbekistan has hosted an official award ceremony of the victors and winners of international contest of folk instrument players “Ona Yurt Ohanglari” (Melodies of the Native Land).
Speaking at the occasion, Deputy Minister of Public Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan A.Kholbekov and others noted that nurturing under the leadership of President Islam Karimov a young generation as comprehensively educated, healthy, ethically advanced individuals with independent thought is one of the priority aspects of government policy.
In the process of wide-ranging reforms carried out at the initiative of the head of our state to modernize the education sphere, extensive efforts are underway to cardinally overhaul the children’s music and arts schools, to further consolidate their economic and technical capacities, provide with music instruments and learning accessories as well as teaching aids.
A great variety of creative projects, festival, show contests facilitate the further improvement of creative and intellectual abilities and potential of children, discovery of their talents, introduce them to the masterpieces of national and world music art.
Held for the first time in our country, the international contest of folk instrument players “Ona Yurt Ohanglari” is important in the steadfast development of the music sphere and music education, in the extensive familiarization of young performers from diverse countries of the world with works of Uzbek composers, as well as in the exchange of experience.
In this artistic competition, young musicians of our country, along with those from Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, played the national music and samples from the best works of composers of Uzbekistan and the world.
“At the contest I have performed the melody ‘Fasli Bahor’ by Uzbek composers Mirza Toyirov and Tulkin Toshmatov,” said Ibrahim Babaev, pupil of the music college at the National Conservatory of Azerbaijan. “I have witnessed that arts are valued in Uzbekistan, and people love in particular the songs and music played on national instruments. The conservatory building erected in modern style, the music schools, colleges and lyceums open up wide opportunities to attain professional music education.”
In the competition among the junior participants aged 12-15, the first prizes went to Mavlonbek Urmanov (playing konun), Islombek Nuriddinov (Afghan rubab) – both from Uzbekistan, as well as Umarbek Shukur oglu (gijjak) of Azerbaijan and Aleksey Dalmatov (accordion) from Russia.
Aibek Khudaiberganov (dombra) of Kazakhstan, Darya Baranova (dombra) from Russia, Marufjon Kadirjanov (Kashghar rubab) from Uzbekistan have been named triumphant in the senior age group (16-19).
Victors and prize winners of the contest received diplomas and memorable gifts. It was followed by a concert show with the participation of young musicians.
(Source: UzA)
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