BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
Uzbekistan and World Bank determined the format for further interaction on the development of a new Partnership Program for 2022-2026, Trend reports referring to the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan.
Within the framework of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group, in the format of a videoconference, negotiations were held between the Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov and Vice President of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde.
The parties discussed the current state and prospects for expanding partnership between f Uzbekistan and the World Bank.
The Bank's management noted the sequence of large-scale socio-economic reforms carried out under the leadership of the President of Uzbekistan, as well as the timeliness and effectiveness of measures to support the economy implemented in 2020, thanks to which the country managed to achieve economic growth despite the negative impact of the pandemic on the global economy.
In this context, Bjerde reaffirmed the Bank's commitment to provide further comprehensive support for the implementation of socio-economic reforms in Uzbekistan.
In addition, the format for further interaction on the development of a new Partnership Program of the World Bank with Uzbekistan for 2022-2026 has been determined. An agreement was reached that the main priority directions of the reform program of the Government of Uzbekistan for the next five years will be taken as its basis.
It is noted that the strategy is designed to determine practical actions to increase the inflow of foreign investment in priority sectors of Uzbekistan's industry and will be implemented in three stages - studying the flows of foreign direct investment, investment legislation and priorities for the industrial development of the Republic, a comparative analysis of individual sectors of the economy with similar sectors of the main competing countries and the development of a step-by-step road map for attracting foreign investment.
By the end of 2020, the World Bank approved financing for six projects in the areas of water supply, agriculture, innovative development, promotion of market reforms and countering the COVID-19 pandemic, the total cost of which amounted to about $1.6 billion.
The sides also discussed new promising projects in the areas of infrastructure development and energy worth $1.7 billion.
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