On February 26, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on issues of territories lagging behind in socio-economic development.

Large-scale measures are identified in Uzbekistan for sustainable development of the economy, improving the welfare of the regions and the standard of living of the population. The Ministry of Economy and Industry and the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade are created by the decrees of the Head of the state for their effective implementation. The main tasks of the Ministry of Economy and Industry are integrated development of regions and industries, balanced allocation of production capacity, and the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade – ensuring development and effective implementation of sectoral and regional investment programs, coordination of export activities of enterprises and organizations.

These ministries, working in a coordinated manner, will take measures on fully utilizing the available opportunities, taking into account market requirements and accelerated development of regions and industries.

Today, special attention is paid to increasing the share of industry in gross domestic product. A number of projects are being developed in this direction.

The President, noting that most of the projects are located mainly in areas with favorable infrastructure, emphasized the need for paying due attention to other territories.

The fact that share of industry does not reach even 3 percent of the regional indicator in 32 districts of the country was criticized. It is indicated that there are opportunities for a wider use of geographical location, raw materials base, and labor resources of these districts.

The Ministries of Economy and Industry, Investments and Foreign Trade, the State Committee on Geology and Mineral Resources were instructed to form investment projects on industrialization of each district based on mineral reserves.

It was noted that 266 thousand hectares of land degraded and taken out of circulation. The ministries of Agriculture, Water Resources have been instructed to develop a program for development of agriculture on these lands through introduction of water-saving technologies.

Instructions were given on effective use of the logistic, export and service potential of districts bordering neighboring countries.

The need was noted for organizing small industrial zones on the basis of cooperation in districts relatively lagging behind in socio-economic terms, as well as implementation of textile and tanning projects, processing and storage of fruits and vegetables. Instructions were given on adopting a program aimed at development of industrial and transport infrastructure in the specified districts.

Organizational measures for implementation of tasks were also identified at the meeting.

First of all, working groups led by Deputy Prime Ministers will have to visit places and develop projects in all 32 districts by industries.

These projects should be specific, contain answers to all the questions: how many enterprises will be put into operation, how many infrastructure facilities will be built, how many people will get work, said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

It is noteworthy that financing issues of these projects will be resolved in conjunction with "Every family is an entrepreneur", "Youth – our future", "Prosperous village", "Prosperous neighborhood" programs. A targeted program will be implemented to promote self-employment for low-income families living in these districts.

Responsible executives presented reports on issues discussed at the meeting.

UzA