Upswing in Exchange Turnover 1
109 enterprises with participation of foreign capital start operating in I quarter in Uzbekistan. 1
Meeting with the EU Special Representative. 1
Meeting of governmental delegations of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. 2
PRESIDENCY OF UZBEKISTAN IN THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION (2015-2016) 2
The Uzbek-Russian joint venture Jarkurganneftnikaytaishlash is planning to increase exports. 2
Media Days Kick off in Tashkent 2
economy
Upswing in Exchange Turnover
The total exchange turnover at the Tashkent Commodity Exchange in the first quarter of 2016 increased 1.3 times, as compared with a similar period last year, exceeding 73 billion soums (currency rates of CB RU from 02.04.2016, 1$= 2899.25 soums).
As of early this year, TCEX concluded 983 exchange transactions and sold 30.5 million shares of 55 joint stock companies. The structure of total exchange turnover was dominated by the market of the primary placement of securities – 56.6% of the total turnover, or 41.3 billion soums. The turnover on the primary market increased almost 4.5 times, as compared with the first quarter of 2015.
The proportion of the volume of secondary securities trading reached 43.4%, or 31.7 billion soums, including 19.3 billion soums (26.4%) of state-owned assets.
Investments of legal entities made up the bulk of the stock market turnover with 57.1 billion soums or 78.3% of total turnover, including 13.1%, or 9.5 billion soums of foreign investors’ share. Experts point out to the increase in investment activity in individuals, whose share in the stock exchange turnover amounted to 21.7%, or 15.8 billion soums, including 15.2%, or 11.1 billion soums by foreign investors.
As of March 31, 2016, the index of market capitalization of joint stock companies’ shares included in the stock exchange quotation list has exceeded 8.5 trillion soums.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
investments
109 enterprises with participation of foreign capital start operating in I quarter in Uzbekistan
Between January-March 2016, 109 enterprises with foreign capital participation had been newly registered in the Republic of Uzbekistan. 78 of them account for the Tashkent city, while the rest in the regions of Tashkent, Samarkand and Syrdarya.
As of 1 April, 2016, total number of operating enterprises with participation of foreign capital reached 4.9 thousand.
(Source: UzReport.uz)
International cooperation
Meeting with the EU Special Representative
On April 29, 2016 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov received European Union Special Representative for Central Asia Peter Burian.
During the conversation the parties discussed topical issues of cooperation between Uzbekistan and EU, international and regional problems.
The sides exchanged views on the implementation of joint projects in the bilateral format and within the framework of the new EU Strategy for Central Asia partnership.
At the meeting the parties also considered the practical aspects of the upcoming joint events, including the participation of high-level delegation of EU in international conference “Oil and Gas of Uzbekistan – OGU-2016” in Tashkent, the schedule of interparliamentary and other contacts, meetings of the institutions of cooperation created by Uzbekistan and EU.
The head of the EU Delegation to Uzbekistan, Ambassador Yuri Sterk attended the talks.
(Source: Press Service of the MFA of the Republic of Uzbekistan)
Meeting of governmental delegations of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
On 25-29 April, 2016, Gulistan (Uzbekistan) hosted a meeting of the Joint Uzbek-Kazakh demarcation commission with the participation of governmental delegations of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The meeting was held within the framework of the planned work of the two parties for the preparation of final documents of the demarcation of the Uzbek-Kazakh state border.
The talks were held in traditionally constructive and friendly atmosphere.
(Source: Press Service of the MFA of the Republic of Uzbekistan)
PRESIDENCY OF UZBEKISTAN IN THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION (2015-2016)
About SCO Forum
On 28-29 April 2016, the delegation of the Republic of Uzbekistan took part in the Forum of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Dushanbe.
During the Forum, which was held in accordance with the schedule of the main events of the Uzbek presidency in the SCO, the sides exchanged views on issues of cooperation between the national research centers of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan within the organization.
(Source: Press Service of the MFA of the Republic of Uzbekistan)
partnership
The Uzbek-Russian joint venture Jarkurganneftnikaytaishlash is planning to increase exports
Last year, the company exported goods worth $12 million.
“The successive technological upgrade of equipment allows increasing the production volumes and improving its quality. The range has been expanding from year to year. We are currently working on improving the quality of gasoline and diesel fuel to Euro-3 level,” said Bahodir Sayfidinov, the chief engineer of the joint venture.
The company supports innovations and widely introduces modern technologies, which allows reducing costs and increasing production volumes. For example, the company introduced a device to clean diesel fuel by extraction, which allowed producing this type of fuel at the very plant. After the introduction of the UPB-100 device, the annual production capacity has increased from 155,000 to 255,000 tons.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
Society
Media Days Kick off in Tashkent
Media Days will be held from April 25 to May 11, which coincide with World Press Freedom Day, and is organized by the National Association of Electronic Mass Media of Uzbekistan (NAEMM), the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan, the Parliamentary Commission on the management of assets of the Public Fund to Support NGOs and Other Civil Society Institutions, the Public Fund to Support Print Media and News Agencies, the Independent Institute for Monitoring the Formation of Civil Society (IIMFCS), the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Coordinator in Central Asia and the UNESCO Office in Uzbekistan.
Seventeen days full of the most diverse programs: six workshops and master classes with the participation of international experts at which will take part more than 100 staff members of non-governmental TV and radio broadcasting companies of the republic, international and national experts and guests.
Ludovic Petho and Regis Ghezelbash (France), Rene Falkner (Germany), Gytis Iodpusis (Lithuania), Andrei Zybkin (Russia), and Alfia Kharchenko (Uzbekistan) will share their experience in the production of media content.
Sevel social presentations devoted to “The Year of Healthy Mother and Child” will be presented by non-governmental NGOs.
More than 100 countries of the world annually celebrate World Press Freedom Day proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993. Traditional Media Days will be marked in this connection at the Miron Hotel and at the Amir Temur Conference hall of the International Hotel Tashkent, within the frameowrk of which working meetings, round tables, presentations, festivals, and competitions will be conducteed.
The International conference on the subject “Mass Media as an important tool of public dialogue, ensuring the openness of the bodies of state power and administration” will become the main event of the days.
It’s also planned to organize the work of 4 sections prior to conducting the conference with the participation of leading national and international experts, journalists, editors and other representatives of non-governmental TV and radio broadcasters from all the regions of the countries for ensuring the successful and fruitful work of the International conference and for getting maximum efficient practical and applied results.
The sectional meetings will be conducted on four topics:
– “Implementation of citizens’ Constitutional rights for information and raising the responsibility of the organs of state power and administration for the quality of taken decisions as an important factor for ensuring the freedom of speech and information”,
– “Role and significance of support and encouragement of the activities of media in the creation of socially-oriented media content aimed at securing the openness and transparency of government agencies’ activities”,
– “Modern media dimension technologies as a tool for assessment the efficiency of social partnertship projects”, and
“Practical aspects of ensuring the openness for the activities of the bodies of state power and administration through the segment of non-government printed and internet Mass Media”.
Proposals will be elaborated on consolidation the role and the significance of Mass Media in the implementation of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the openness in the activities of the organs of state power and administration”, as well recommendations on the elaboration of iindicators for the assessment of Mass Media development”.
The basic provisions, practical recommendation and proposals on the problems of raising the role and significance of Mass Media in the formation of an efficient public dialogue between the government agencies and the civil society institutions, worked out at sectional meetings, will be presented on the 3rd of May for their further discussion and summing up the results of the International conference, which will serve as a platform for 120 national and international experts.
Within the framework of the event it is planned to discuss practical aspects of realization of the tasks outlined by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Concept for further deepening democratic reforms and shaping up the civil society in the country; problems of raising the efficiency of Mass Media activities in ensuring the execution of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the openness of the organs of state power and administration” and such other legal acts in this sphere; examine the international practices and study the recommendation on the problems of raising the role and significance of Mass Media in building up an effective concept of public dialogue and social partnership securing the onward advacement of democratic processes and further formation of civil society.
The conference expects the presentation by the National Association of Electronic Mass Media of its project on economic support of transition to digital broadcastiing of its members – non-government TV and Radio Stations.
The Media Days program envisages the particpation of the guests in the prize awarding ceremony of winners of the 9th “Oltin qlam” national award.
A traditional “Jurnalistlar bahori-2016” Festival will be held in Tashkent on the 3rd of May, the World Press Freedom Day. The festival will also iinvite the participants and guests of the NAEMM Media Days take part in the prize awarding ceremony of the best employees of the non-government TV and Radio channels and in the pilaff competion in compliance with the best traditions of the regions of the country. Journalists from all over Uzbekistan will present their national costumes, culinary traditions and customs of different regions of the country. The guests of the Festival will be able to taste 13 types of pilaff from 13 regions of the country: the most famous chefs and reporters from all the regions of the country will compete in the pilaff cooking contest to identify the best among them in cooking the main dish of the evening.
A training seminar entitled “International practices in the creation of social video reels: specific features and innovation” has already started at the “Bunyodkor” youth complex within the framework of the Media Days, which is facilitated by French documentarist Lui Peto. He is a well-known film directos and a cameraman with a rich professional expereinice and an executive producer of the “Panorama Worldwide” media company.
It was emphasized at the opening of the workshop that the NAEMM prroject on the creatioon of socially-significant media product had started up in March 2014. Taking part in it are creative groups from the capital city and the regions of the country. They represent young and promising journalists, cameramen and editors, who raised the level of their qualification at trainings with the participation of prominent national and foreign specialists. 700 social video reels have been producing during the past period.
Theoretical and practical trainings will be conduted during the workshop, where the participants will get acquainted with the new forms and methods of producing social media output on international level, and will abe able to further increase their professional skills. With consideration of received knowledge and skills the young TV journalists will prepare their own social video reels.
“This is my second visit to uzbekistan,” said Petho in an interview with an Uzbekistan Today correspodent. “I had already conducted a seminar here in 2015 devoted to new approaches to production of media output in covering ecological problems. In my opinion, the NAEMM has been conducting large-sale work on rasing TV journslists’ practical knowledge and continuously improving the style and quality of presented information. The youth full of so many interesting creative ideas prevail among creative and technical staff.”
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
The government is developing a program of measures to boost the Uzbek population’s and regions’ preparedness to take action in case of earthquakes
This fact was voiced at a seminar at the institute of civil defense on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1966 Tashkent earthquake.
“The most vulnerable objects of seismic activities are old houses in rural areas,” underlined chief of department of the Tashkent scientific-research housing and civil engineering earthquake-resistant design institute (ToshuyjoiLITI), academician Shomil Khakimov. “However, the situation in Uzbekistan keeps changing for the better. More than 50 thousand modern rural houses were built in 2009-2015 in this country on the basis of standard-design projects in full compliance with the established standards that meet seismic safety rules and regulations.”
Shomil Khakimov drew attention to the fact “that our specialists propose a whole number of undertakings aimed at reducing seismic risk in erecting brick, frame-panel and private houses built from low-strength materials, based on a systemic approach, starting from designing and ending up with their commissioning. The Institute of Seismology has developed technologies for general and detailed seismic zoning, micro-zoning and express-evaluation of construction sites’ seismicity.”
At the same time the solution of seismic safety should be secured by the currently developed program of further measures on the enhancement of the Republic’s territories and the population to take action in case of earthquakes. It is being elaborated with the involvement of specialists from 40 ministries and government agencies. By now its development has reached the final stage of the approval and finance resourcing process.
“The program provides for certification of all buildings, structures and installations on the territory of the Republic along with checking their seismic-resistance level. The implementation of this large-scale project will provide an opportunity to assess the potential of all those structures to withstand seismic shocks and take action in regards to each building,” stressed First Deputy Minister for Emergency, Colonel Komiljon Oripov, speaking at the seminar at the Institute of Civil Defense.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
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