INFORMATION DIGEST OF PRESS OF UZBEKISTAN # 237

“Investment portal of Uzbekistan”

Citizens of 76 countries will be able to get an electronic visa to Uzbekistan (List)

Uzbekistan announces visa waiver for citizens of 45 countries (List)

Important Visa Information for Indian Citizens Travelling to Uzbekistan

December 1, 2015

INFORMATION DIGEST OF PRESS OF UZBEKISTAN # 237

uzbek_digestinvestments. 2

Auto Industry of Uzbekistan to Ramp up Production. 2

INFRASTRUCTURE.. 3

National roads system of Uzbekistan is being improved. 3

2015 year – The Year of Care for the Senior Generation.. 3

Eternal Values in a New Format 3

 

investments

Auto Industry of Uzbekistan to Ramp up Production

Two country’s largest automotive manufacturers GM Uzbekistan and JV MAN Auto Uzbekistan have announced plans to boost their presence in the national market and use local production capacities to increase exports.

The recent International Investment Forum in Tashkent has determined the development of the domestic economy for many years to come. Uzbekistan Today is launching a series of stories dedicated to the agreements reached at the forum, and their implementation.

Today, we are introducing you to the automotive industry, which unveiled its export programs at the forum.

For example, the German engineering company MAN Truck & Bus is planning to turn Uzbekistan into the export hub for promoting its products to Central Asian markets. Today, Uzbekistan is seen as a kind of an entry point for MAN exports to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and to Kazakhstan since September 2015.

The key mission of the company comes to the development of new export development strategy, which would position the joint venture in Uzbekistan as a platform for the further expansion of its presence in the region and in the local market.

Uzbekistan ranks among the top 10 leading markets of MAN. This year, the company has released the 5,000th truck at its plant in Samarkand, and brought the country’s assembly capacity to 3,000 items of heavy equipment annually.

The two projects that have been launched this year, are regarded as key points of growth in the short term. They envisage the production of two types of buses and the start of localization of trucks.

In the next two years it is planned to establish the production of stamping, metal, plastic and other components, as well as truck cabs. By the end of 2020, Uzbekistan will produce interior and exterior cockpit parts, propeller shaft, radiators, fuel tanks, steel wheels and other components.

Uzbekistan promises to rank among the leaders in the production of buses. As an absolutely new type of such vehicles, MAN Lion`s CNG is currently being tested. It has won the title of ‘Top Bus-2015’ at the annual competition Bus Euro Test. A successful combination of a low-floor chassis and advanced CNG technology is seen as its main advantage, which increases the operating efficiency of the bus by 40%, compared to petrol or diesel run buses.

A semi knocked down assembly of buses will start next year in Samarkand. The first batch will comprise 50 buses. The company is not going to stop there, and is intending to launch the production CNG-based tourist buses in Uzbekistan in the near future, as part of the further development of tourism and comfortable communication between cities.

Another car giant, GM Uzbekistan, has been implementing a special package of measures to overcome crisis in major export markets, which envisages the further expansion of the car range for the domestic and foreign markets, and enhancement of localization. Altogether, these efforts would provide the company with significant advantages, which will be applied when the situation on export markets stabilizes.

GM sees Uzbekistan as an important production base, since it ranks among the five countries with the highest sales of the Chevrolet brand. In 2014, the country ranked fifth in car sales, climbing by one position.

GM Uzbekistan has been making great efforts towards further localization. More than a half of 200 direct suppliers of components are located in Uzbekistan, producing nearly 40% out of the total 7,500 parts used in the production of cars.

The company is particularly proud by its automobile engine plant GM Powertrain Uzbekistan. It produces world-class 1.2 and 1.5 liter engines. Since its launch in 2012, the production capacity has increased to 260,000 The products are used in the cars that are assembled in Uzbekistan. Besides, a part of engines is exported to the United States for the after-sales maintenance.

The company currently manufactures 10 models of cars: Damas, Labo, Matiz, Spark, Nexia, Cobalt, Lacetti, Captiva, Malibu and Orlando.

(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

INFRASTRUCTURE

National roads system of Uzbekistan is being improved

Republican Road Fund under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan organized a press conference at the National Press Centre on the ongoing activities on repairs of public and internal roads.

Deputy Director of the Republican Road Fund Sh.Jumabaev and others noted that systemic measures to improve the system of highways, implemented under the leadership of President Karimov, are an important factor for sustainable growth of the economy and welfare of the population.

The fund financed the repairs and reconstruction of nearly 7700 km roads in 2010-2014, of which over 1474 kilometers are internal roads.

In 2014, the Fund allocated over 2 trillion soums for construction, reconstruction and repairs of roads. 254 billion soums of this amount were spent on repairs of internal roads of city streets and rural settlements (currency rates of CB RU from 01.12.2015   1$= 2750.43 soums).

This year the Republican Road Fund and international financial institutions are expected to allocate 1 trillion 543 billion soums for the construction and repair of 376.3 km roads.

In accordance with the decree of the head of our country on the program of development and modernization of engineering, communication and road infrastructure in 2015-2019 dated from 6 March 2015, construction and reconstruction of approximately 3 thousand kilometers of roads, bridges, overpasses and road interchanges are to be carried out in the next 5 years.

In 2016, construction and reconstruction of highways stretching 512.9 kilometers is planned. Over 1 trillion 800 billion soums are expected to be spent for this purpose.

Local roads with total length of 376 kilometers in Tashkent, Andijan, Fergana and Namangan regions will be fully renovated under the loan of the World Bank in the amount of 200 million US dollars.

Purchase of 993 units of equipment and 38 road-building complexes are planned for 2015-2019 to perform routine maintenance and ensure safety of roads.

Journalists have received answers to their questions at the press conference.

(Source: UzA)

2015 year – The Year of Care for the Senior Generation

Eternal Values in a New Format

The State Program “Year of Attention and Care for the Senior Generation” has changed the substance of leisure of not only elderly citizens.

For Grannies and Grandpas

“More shows on the radio and television meeting the interests of older people, and create conditions for grandparents to visit cultural institutions”. That is how a year ago it was planned to diversify the leisure of the honorable generation. And, apparently, everything has worked.

From year to year, among the older generation in the country, the number of older people using the Internet has been increasing. For their convenience this year has seen the commencement of the first specialized resource, Nuroniy.net, where you can not only access information, but also are able to find in chat rooms buddies with the same interests, and listen to the radio with a special program for the elderly.

The most accessible and popular means of entertainment is television. The principal social program has changed significantly also the content of TV shows. Increasing is the volume of broadcast programs that demonstrate the masterpieces of Uzbek classical music, popular works from the “golden stock” of Uzbek cinema, so is the number of programs devoted to aspects of social life of the elderly.

Television journalists have tried to ‘enter’ every home and make the leisure of the senior citizens more meaningful and interesting. But even television, which has become the main instrument for achieving the objectives on this front, has taken into account that it is an active lifestyle that is the key to longevity. That is why the National Broadcasting Company, and non-state television and radio channels have paid great attention to the creation of shows aimed at the extensive involvement of the older people in physical culture and sports, at maintaining active lifestyle, fostering a culture of healthy eating. There were such TV shows as “gymnastics for the elderly”, a series of talk show “How I stay active and healthy despite my age”, and other similar topics.

More than 100 million soums have been assigned by the Agency for Press and Information and its social partners to the publication of books for the elderly. As a result, poetry collections, books on historical, cultural and other topics have been published (currency rates of CB RU from 01.12.2015   1$= 2750.43 soums).

Particular attention is paid to the wishes of grandparents, active lifestyle. The mahalla guzars and centers of culture and leisure of the population have opened special hobby clubs and clubs with the same interests with showing popular movies and listening to classical music. In mahallas, permanent health group have been set up for the older generation, the disabled and other categories of the population to use the gyms of nearby educational institutions, medical and physical education rooms of family clinics.

There appeared a lot of interesting initiatives for various events. For example, now a competition called “Keksalar Zavqi” will be held annually among senior citizens aged 60 and older. The program includes walking, playing chess, checkers, volleyball, football, table tennis. The winners are expected to be awarded with valuable gifts.

In the course of implementing the program for the reconstruction, major overhaul and construction of parks and recreation centers, the scheme has seen some adjustments. Today, each of the 225 parks in the country will house a recreation center for people of venerable age. Here you can read fresh newspapers and magazines, play chess and checkers. The centers are a venue for lectures on healthy lifestyle, physical activity, prevention of various diseases. It holds regular meetings with celebrated actors, writers, singers.

Works have continued on the improvement, repair and consolidation of material and technical base of health resorts. In the village of Sakson-ota in Yukorichirchik district of Tashkent region, a sports and entertainment complex “Orom” has been built specially for the elderly.

Thus, the efforts have been directed not only to diversify the leisure of the senior generation, but also to make it useful and helpful for longevity.

About Grannies and Grandpas

All our grandmothers and grandfathers are carriers of centuries-old folk traditions and customs. Each of them can be told in the newspapers or on television. And this is also reflected in the media and cultural life of the Uzbek people.

Journalistic materials complement the work of cinematographers. The Uzbekkino Agency has even adopted a special set of measures to create films that reflect the ages-old values and traditions of the Uzbek people demonstrating the reverence and respect for the older generation. Special will be a series of documentary films telling about the senior citizens. For example, one of the first works created in this area has been that about Zuhra Khalimova who has passed the 100-year threshold, who devoted her entire life to working on the railroads and fostering adopted children.

A contribution in this direction has been made by the Writers’ Union of Uzbekistan, the Mahalla Fund, the Nuroniy Foundation, the Kamolot Public Youth Movement and the Agency for Press and Information. Thus, a compilation “Mingta ibratli hayot yuli” has been released that tells about elderly people living in Uzbekistan whose age exceeds 100, enjoying dignity and respect for their self-sacrificing way of life. These books have been distributed among libraries of educational institutions of the country. No less interesting have turned out the books with children’s writers and poets, teachings of wise men about respect for parents and reverence to the older generation.

Activities are underway in the country aimed at promoting the age-old values of the multiethnic people of Uzbekistan. Thus, for example, it was the republican review-competition of ancient instruments “Umrboqiy navolar”. Many visitors are at the exhibitions of paintings, national clothes, souvenirs, culinary and confectionery, photo exhibitions with the participation of representatives of the senior generation.

Among those who enjoy special support this year are folk groups who have made an enormous contribution to the continuation and promotion of intangible cultural heritage. In particular, the folklore-ethnographic ensembles received support in the form of new musical instruments and organization of the tour. In Andijan, Namangan and Ferghana regions, a network of clubs has been set up engaged in the development of the traditional genres of folklore askiya, which originated in the area.

Much attention is paid to ensuring the decent living conditions for older people and their families in rural areas, to improve the cultural life of the rural population. This year, 12 thousand individual houses on standard projects have been built in the countryside. On the new residential quarters, builders are completing the construction of 169 facilities of social and market infrastructure, such as guzars, shopping malls, as well as consumer service complexes.

(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

Reference to the source is a must in reproducing materials