May 12, 2015
May 9 – remerbrance and honor day.. 2
To Revere the Memory of the Fallen, to Care for the Senior Generation is Our Sacred Duty. 2
Uzbekistan focuses on cooperation and localization. 3
Uzbekistan uses investments for US$2.7bn in 1Q.. 4
The current state of tender purchases in the Republic of Uzbekistan. 5
May 9 – remerbrance and honor day
To Revere the Memory of the Fallen, to Care for the Senior Generation is Our Sacred Duty
At the initiative of President Islam Karimov, 9 May – the Day of Memory and Deference is widely celebrated in our country as a national holiday.
Memory is eternal, reverence is sacrosanct.
Peace and calmness, harmony and wellbeing are reigning in Uzbekistan. Such values and feelings as respect for the elderly, care for the juniors, kindness and nobility are getting fixed firmly in the hearts of people. Reverence for the memory of ancestors, continuation of their gracious deeds, deference for the senior generation that facilitates by example the consolidation of tranquility and cohesion in our society, the prosperity of the nation, have become an integral part of our life.
Steadfast have been the endeavors dedicated to boost the health of the seniors and create all the favorable conditions for securing their welfare.
In accordance with the Decree of head of our state on measures to further reinforce the social support for veterans of war and labor front of 1941-1945, signed 13 October 2014, the scope and scale of their social protection has been expanded even more. In particular, the veterans of war and labor battlefields have been granted the opportunity to enjoy a treatment course in sanatoria and health improvement institutions once a year for free.
On the initiative of President Islam Karimov, the year 2015 was announced in our country as the one of Consideration and Care for the Senior Generation.
As part of the national program adopted in this respect, noble efforts have been underway designed to further uplift the standards and quality of life of the older generation people and enhance the scope of moral and material support for them.
The presidential decrees to award the citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan – veterans of war and labor front of 1941-1945 with memorable jubilee medal “Ikkinchi Jahon Urushidagi Ghalabaning 70 Yilligi” (The Seventieth Anniversary of the Victory in the Second World War), inked 19 February 2015, and to encourage the participants of the 1941-1945 war, penned 6 March this year, have come to be a logical extension of the efforts undertaken to revere the representatives of the senior generation. In line with these documents, participants of the war were presented during solemn and festive events with jubilee medals, money rewards and holiday gifts.
The decree signed 14 April 2015 by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on additional measures to further reinforce the social protection and material support for the senior generation has become a supplementary stimulus and an immense spiritual support for the veterans.
The celebration of the Day of Memory and Deference in the Year of Consideration and Care for the Senior Generation multiplies even more the significance of this holiday, which is marked extensively under the slogan “Jasorat, Burch, Matonat” (Courage, Duty, Heroism).
On May 9, the Memory Square in the heart of Tashkent was crowded from the very early hours with veterans of war and labor, senators and lower house legislators, government members, military servicemen, and representatives of the wider public. Those gathered enjoy the tender music in the air.
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov entered the square in the afternoon and laid a wreath, under the sounds of the military orchestra, to the monument of Mourning Mother.
The leader of Uzbekistan revered the memory of our compatriots fallen in the Second World War.
“Today, our people widely celebrate the unforgettable historic date – the seventieth anniversary of the Victory over fascism in the Great Patriotic War,” President Islam Karimov said during a conversation with representatives of mass media. “I take this opportunity to congratulate on this glorious date primarily all our esteemed veterans who displayed courage and daring in that war, who labored selflessly on the home front, and the entire people of Uzbekistan. Without any doubt, our most critical duty is to pay tribute to those who, in the name of the current peaceful life and clear sky, fell in the battlefields. Today, everyone of us is well aware that the Second World War that took the lives of millions and millions of people, that left countless and boundless losses, pain and misery of loss, was the most ruthless and the bloodiest war in the history of the human race, and this truth is not to be forgotten in the world.
As natural as it is, every family, every person in our country is deeply conscious of how great the price had to be paid to achieve triumph over fascism, and aspire to preserve the peace and calmness in our land as the apple of the eye, the head of our state emphasized.
That out of the total 6.5 million people residing then in Uzbekistan more than 1.5 million took part in the war per security, is rather suggestive of the fact that practically a fourth of our population fought with the adversary.
Despite the passage of as many as 70 years, every family nurtures the memory of around half a million of our compatriots died in that in that horrible war, in addition to the myriads of disabled returned from the battleground, women left widows and children orphans.
We will never forget that the people of Uzbekistan, by steadily overcoming all the difficulties and predicaments of the war times, labored tirelessly day and night and thus made a tremendous contribution to the victory, Islam Karimov stressed.
After all, is it possible to forget that our nation admitted about a million people evacuated to Uzbekistan, including children, and shared the last slice of bread they had, with words “You are not an orphan!”, and gave them not only the dwelling place, but also demonstrated the best possible human qualities toward them like compassion, generosity and nobility?
Humanism and spiritual values, kindness and breadth of soul of a people are manifest brightly in such thorny times.
For their valor and bravery on the battlefield, 338 of our fathers and grandfathers were awarded the title “Hero of the Soviet Union”, while thousands and thousands of our compatriots were awarded combat orders and medals, and all this is a practical proof of the genuine heroism of our nation in the fight with fascism.
17 years ago, we announced the 9th of May– Victory Day as the Day of Memory and Reverence in our country, and today, with the passage of time, the life itself confirms how correct that decision was, President Karimov noted.
We adopted it building on our national traditions and by deeply sensing that in the course of years and centuries, the memory of our nation who has witnessed loads of trials in its history and who never bowed its head before the enemy, will bear eternally the bright names of selfless sons and daughters who sacrificed their lives in the name of the freedom of the Motherland, the peaceful and tranquil life. Thus, it is really legitimate that the institution of the Day of Memory and Reverence by us has found the broadest possible endorsement by our citizens.
(Source: Press-service of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan)
economy
Uzbekistan focuses on cooperation and localization
A series of trade fairs under the first phase of the International Industrial Fair and Cooperation Exchange have been underway in the halls of the Tashkent Uzexpocenter. Products and services are presented by over 530 enterprises of utility sector, transport, capital construction and building industries as well as agriculture and water resources, agricultural products and consumer goods.
There is hardly any better and convenient platform in Uzbekistan for communication between representatives of related industries. Contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars are signed here every year. The event empowers the initiatives that give way to the manufacture of new products.
Products worth over 620 billion soums have been produced under 504 projects of the Program of Localization of Production of Finished Products, Components and Materials since the beginning of 2015. The estimated effect of import has exceeded $260 million. The list of 430 new products includes spare parts for excavators, body stamped parts for Damas cars, spare parts and compressor units, motor oils, hydraulic fluids, mine trolleys, new types of refrigerators and freezers, ovens, household fixtures, energy-saving LED lamps, components for home appliances, bicycles, fitness equipment and other products. This is by far not the limit, admit the participants (currency rates of CB RU from 12.05.2015 1$= 2522.73 soums).
“Our company specializes in the production of margarine and vegetable oil,” said head of Sarbon Baraka Business Marketing Director Oybek Yakubov. “This August we are planning to launch the production of a new product – ice cream. We are currently busy with the procurement of equipment for the new production line, and we hope that the sectoral industrial fair and cooperation exchange will facilitate the solution of all problems.” According to the organizers, last year’s fair brought together 337 companies that exhibited more than 1,900 kinds of products, of which 90 new products were manufactured under the Localization Program. The participants concluded contracts for the supply of products under industrial cooperation and for export totaling 139.5 billion soums and $64.7 million. This year, these indicators have been already surpassed.
According to Uzpahtasanoat representative Malokhat Alimova, they expect to sign 11 contracts worth over three billion soums on the purchase and installation of propane units for drying raw cotton at ginneries. Last year, they signed eight agreements of this kind. It is also planned to sign contracts for the purchase of spare parts and components for the cotton industry and development of engineering.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
investments
Uzbekistan uses investments for US$2.7bn in 1Q
Uzbekistan used investments for US$2.7 billion in the first quarter of 2015, which grew by 8.7% year-on-year, the Ministry of Economy and State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan said.
From total volume of used investments, over US$660 million or 24.3% from total foreign investments and loans, which rose by 12.1% in the reporting period. About SU$580 million of them were foreign direct investments with the growth rate of 10%.
The volume of used investments of the Fund for Reconstruction and Development to implementation of the large investment projects in strategic industries in economy increased by 5.6% to US$81.1 million.
About 36.3% of total investments were own resources of business entities (growth – 28.3%), the statement of the state bodies said.
Within the investment programme for 2015, Uzbekistan started to implement 53 investment projects for over US$4.8 billion in the first quarter of 2015. In the reporting period, about 434 new production capacities were launched within territorial programme of social-economic development of the regions. About 179 projects were realized in construction materials industry, 141 in food industry, 99 in textile industry, 56 – furniture and paper industry, 37 – chemical and petrochemical industry, etc.
(Source: UzDaily.com )
business climate
The current state of tender purchases in the Republic of Uzbekistan
These days it is next to impossible to imagine an economically developed country without such a vital, purely market mechanism of purchase and sale of goods, works and services as tenders, representing one of the most prevalent forms of trade.
World experience suggests that the development of market relationships and the formation of developed forms of commercial transactions inherent in democratic society do not take place simultaneously. At the early stages of its development, the market economy doesn’t dispose of a ramified system of marketing services, is not backed by the state and or lacks sufficient experience. That’s why when conducting commercial operations at their risk and on their own responsibility they often find themselves in a situation, where they cannot get a maximum possible profit from trade. At the same time, contracts are concluded via numerous mediatory links. Moreover, buying goods of low quality at prices set too high tells on the end consumers of these goods in the final analysis. Among other shortcomings of such organization of commerce, one should mention a lack of transparence as a vital factor of bona-fide competition, which is inherent in market relationships.
While forming a range of market relationships, the Republic of Uzbekistan has been taking measures to liberalize foreign trade and to create institutions ensuring the adequate interaction between the home and foreign sectors of the national economy.
Such form of foreign trade organization as tenders, auctions, introduction of alternative commercial proposals, including tenders as a means of concluding a contract for the delivery of goods, where a tender organizer determines the terms, on which a tender may be concluded, the main terms of a future contract, criteria and procedures for submitting tender proposals and for selecting a winner, have been already tested at the initial stage of reforms. Needles to say, they have proved themselves to be successful.
A big step forward was made in the development of import purchases on a tender basis with the approval of the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No 397, “On improvement of purchases of basic foodstuffs for state needs” dated August 14, 1997.
This document was designed to raise the efficiency, with which budgetary resources are used to purchase foodstuffs for state needs, as well as to develop and support indigenous producers of foodstuffs.
In keeping with a given Resolution, import purchases are carried out on a tender basis, this requirement concerns a proportion of purchases not covered by domestic producers’ own resources.
Another document, the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No 454, “On organization of foodstuffs deliveries for state needs on a tender basis” as of September 26, 1997, gave the development of the national tender system one more powerful incentive. As well as specifying the main principles of tender organization, such as the creation of equal competitive conditions for all tender participants, glasnost, objective assessment and uniform requirements, this normative document precisely regulates both a mechanism and a system of organizing and conducting tenders to import foodstuffs for state needs.
To ensure that tenders are conducted effectively, as well as to execute the Resolution mentioned above, a special agency was set up at the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investment and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Called “Uzbektenderconsulting” , it is charged to tackle the following tasks:
– To secure the economic interests of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
– To work out instructions and regulatory documentation on the organization of tenders and contests;
– To carry out a pre-tender selection of direct producers and suppliers of goods for state needs;
– To provide equal competitive conditions for all tender participants;
– To carry out a pre-qualification selection of suppliers and expert assessment of proposals, and to arrange advertising of tenders.
Thus, not only the legal mechanism was formed, but the entire institution of state support was put in place, to help enterprises with the efficient realization of their intentions in the field of import purchases.
Analysis of the Agency’s activity attests not only to the optimization of import purchases on a tender basis, but also to the formation of both a transparent environment for tender organization and a mechanism of satiating demand for imports.
In addition, the economic effectiveness of tender-based purchases thanks to a decrease in the cost of purchases is confirmed by reduced prices for similar goods, which are imported to the Republic by organizations other than tender participants.
One more document, aimed at ensuring the efficient use of foreign credit resources and grants, stimulating the development of competition between indigenous and overseas suppliers, attracting small and medium-sized enterprises to this business and improving the organization and conduct of tenders for the purchase of raw stuff, materials, components and equipment, was the Regulations, “On conducting tenders for the purchase of raw stuff, materials, components and equipment”. Put into force by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No 456 as of November 21, 2000, the Regulations in question specifies the following issues:
– Financial responsibility for the initiation of purchases;
– A model of carrying out purchase procedures focused on tender commissions and their working bodies;
– Advantages of open tenders and terms of conducting closed tenders;
– Tender invitation procedures;
– Drawing up of tender documentation;
– Assessment of a tender participant’s qualification characteristics;
– Schedule and dates specified for different tender stages;
– Submission of applications, a procedure for their receipt, unsealing and assessment, and guaranteeing of tender bids;
– A procedure for contract registration and responsibility of state authorities and tender participants for any possible infringements.
In order to support local manufacturers, to precipitate the development of bona-fide competition and to prevent artificial rises in prices for goods, works and services and monopolization of the home market by separate organizations and firms, the Uzbek government has been enacting, on a step-by-step basis, a number of regulatory-legal documents, which tackle the issues surrounding the organization and conduct of tenders in various industries and areas of economic activity. Among these documents, it is necessary to mention the following ones:
– Regulations of the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan No 379, which contain “Regulations on the procedure for organization and conduct of tenders for the purchase of goods and services by the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan” (as of February 27, 1998);
– Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No 350, “On issues surrounding the organization and conduct of open tenders at urban passenger transport” (as of August 17, 1998);
– Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No 368, “On issues surrounding the organization and conduct of open tenders for the distribution of suburban, interurban and international passenger routes” (as of July 29, 1999);
In the social sphere:
– Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No 409, “On additional measures to improve the material living conditions of teachers and pupils” and the following two documents enclosed with a given Resolution: “The procedure for providing first-formers with a free set of school paraphernalia” and “The procedure for providing primary school pupils from poor families with winter clothes” (as of August 20, 1997);
In the field of construction:
– Resolution, “On tenders in the field of major construction work on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan” approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No 302 as of July 3, 2003, which regulates the distribution of contracts in construction on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan, elaborated in keeping with the Presidential Decree No УПП-3240, “On the main directions of further intensification of economic reforms in the field of major construction work” (as of May 6, 2003);
– Recommendations on the procedure for paying for completed building-and-erection works and reconditioning of edifices and structures built under agreements (contracts) as a result of tenders”, issued by the State Committee on Architecture and Construction.
All these regulatory documents are contributive to the further intensification of economic transformation in the construction complex as well as to the wide introduction of market principles and mechanisms in the system of economic relationships in the field of major construction work.
At the same time, it should be observed that the application of tenders is not restricted just to purchases of goods, works and services for state needs. In international practice, tenders are widely used for the purchase of quotas, including tariff ones, limits, exclusive rights etc.
Streamlining the national regulatory-legal framework for the organization and conduct of tenders and bringing it into accord with a common format are believed to optimize the entire spectrum of tender mechanisms and, correspondingly, the import activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
(Source: «Business partner.uz» newspaper)
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