DECEMBER 4 – THE ELECTIONS OF PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN.. 1
DECEMBER 4 – THE ELECTIONS OF PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
The Central Election Commission has played host a meeting with members of the core team of observers from the OSCE ODIHR
The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan has played host November 2 to a meeting with members of the core team of observers from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who arrived in our country to observe the pending presidential elections. The mission is headed by Johann Peter Traugott Tejler.
Chairman of the Central Election Commission Mirzo-Ulugbek Abdusalomov said that the cooperation of the CEC with ODIHR has been developing fruitfully with positive results. According to the report published on 21 October this year at the OSCE website, all the stages of the electoral campaign in Uzbekistan are carried out in a timely manner and within the approved Program of Major Activities for the preparations and conduct of elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Positive acclaim received the introduction in December 2015 of amendments and addenda to the laws on Elections of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, on the Central Election Commission, and other acts of legislation immediately after the presidential elections that took place in March that year. Particular emphasis was placed on such amendments as the reduction in the required amount of signatures in support of the presidential candidate in order to facilitate the participation of political parties in the elections, the consolidation of the rules on the notion of pre-election campaigning, the types, forms and methods of its implementation, the formation of polling stations in places of detention, the definition of the timing, order and procedures for early voting, establishing the day of silence for the day before the ballot day. All of these changes have been made taking into account the previous recommendations of the OSCE ODIHR and meet universally recognized electoral standards.
The CEC has updated the regulations specifying the procedure for drawing up electoral lists, the nomination procedures and verification of signatures collected in their support, the organization of pre-election campaigning and funding it, complaints and appeals, including clearance of administrative offenses, as well as the rights and obligations of observers. It stresses the openness and transparency of the activities of election commissions, participation of the media, political parties and international observers in their meetings, the willingness of the CEC to promptly post all materials related to the election campaign on its official website.
During the meeting the sides exchanged views on the organization of the Mission of OSCE ODIHR, its interaction with the Central Election Commission in the framework of observing the presidential elections in Uzbekistan.
It should be noted that in addition to the core team, the OSCE ODIHR election observation mission also includes 20 long-term observers and 250 people short-term observers.
The objective of long-term observers, expected to arrive in Uzbekistan on November 5, is to monitor the various stages of the electoral process in the nation’s regions and provide mission participants with comprehensive information about the developments in the country. The long-term observers’ work allows ODIHR to compile a report on the electoral process in its entirety, including the summary of observation results across regions.
Short-term observers are tasked with observation in districts assigned to them on the election day, as well as accurate and complete report on its findings to the headquarters of the ODIHR. The deployment of a sufficient number of short-term observers allows the Office to cover a statistically representative section of polling stations across the country. Short-term observers are anticipated to fulfill their mission on 2-6 December this year.
Worth noting is that the full-scale observation mission for the elections is sent to Uzbekistan for the first time at the invitation of the country’s Central Election Commission and in view of the nation’s readiness to hold the important political event in an open and transparent manner in accordance with universally recognized international electoral standards.
(Source: Republican Press Center for Covering the Elections of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan)
investments
By the end of 2020, Uzbekistan intends to implement 846 investment projects on modernization, technical and technological upgrade of production, totaling $40.8 billion
Most of them are the newly launched projects worth $19.6 billion, with ready investors and sources of funding, 135 promising priority projects for $ 21.1 billion, to be implemented through foreign investments and loans.
According to experts, the implementation of the scheduled initiatives would allow the average annual GDP growth of at least 8%, including the 9 percent growth of industrial production. The share of industry in GDP will increase from the current 24% to 27% in 2020. They predict the further dynamic development of high-tech industries like mechanical engineering, oil and gas, petrochemical, chemical, textile and food industries, with the increase of their share in the industry with 62% in 2014 to 67% in 2020. It is planned to launch the production of a hundred of new product categories, and increase annual industrial production and export capacity by 18 trillion soums (currency rates of CB RU from 01.11.2016, 1$= 3102.18 soums) and $2 billion respectively by 2020.
The majority of projects on modernization, technical and technological extension of production will be implemented in the fuel and energy complex, chemical, petrochemical and metallurgical industries, 172 projects – in exploration.
There are plans afoot for big projects in mechanical engineering, automotive and electrical industry, product standardization, totally 77 projects. Concurrently, it is planned to expand the existing and establish new facilities on the production of import substituting agricultural machinery, trucks, parts and accessories in cooperation with the leading equipment manufacturers by 2019. In turn, O’zeltehsanoat Company intends to implement 39 new investment projects for $268.5 million.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
export
Delicious Cooperation
On November 8 – 10, Tashkent will host the Uzbekistan’s First International Fruit and Vegetable Fair. It is expected to sign sales contracts for more than 1 million tons of fresh and about 30 thousand tons of processed fruit and vegetable products.
The event will take place at the exhibition areas of Uzexpocentre. It will introduce foreign partners of Uzbekistan to unique consumer properties of domestically produced vegetables, fruits, grapes and melons.
The volumes Uzbekistan has prepared for export sales are far from being limited, given that since the beginning of the current year Uzbekistan has grown 2.3 million tons of potatoes, 8.2 million tons of vegetables, 1.5 million tons of melons, more than 1.2 million tons of grapes and 2 million tons of fruits and berries. The more so, the IFVF expects representatives of the leading foreign procurement companies from more than 40 countries.
“The Fair is a great opportunity to further strengthen the long-term stable relations with foreign procurement companies, and thereupon, increase the volumes and expand the range of export supplies of fresh and processed fruit and vegetable products, as well as open up new markets,” said a representative of the O’zbekozikovqatholding company.
Experts also predict that it will help to build a system of long-term stable cooperative relations between the producers of fruits and vegetables and the companies that specialize in their processing and exporting.
IFVF expositions and stands will demonstrate the economic and investment potential of the country’s fruit and vegetable industry, fresh and processed products produced by farms, agricultural companies and processing enterprises from all regions of the country.
A business program will include presentations by the largest domestic processing, catering and transport companies like O’zbekozikovqatholding , Uzagroeksport, O’zvinosanoat-holding, Uzbekistan Railways, Uzbekistan Airways, O’rta Osiyo Trans, and others.
Regional administrations will present plans on export capacity building for fruit and vegetable products in their regions, representatives of ministries and agencies will team up with foreign experts to assess the prospects for the development of horticulture in Uzbekistan in view of the global food market trends.
The organizers have scheduled several round-table discussions with foreign participants to expand direct and medium-term export supplies of fresh and processed fruit and vegetable products.
As part of the Fair, the guests will be introduced to intensive gardens, fruit and vegetable processing companies, logistics centers, and refrigeration facilities.
”On July 12 -16, Tashkent hosted an unscheduled international fruit and vegetable fair, which resulted in the signing of 270 export contracts on fruits and vegetables for more than $2 billion. The share of vegetables amounted to 27% of export products, grapes – 25%, fruits – 20%, dried and processed products – 17,6%, legumes – 8.4 %, melons – 2%.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
Reference to the source is a must in reproducing materials