11 June, 2006

Politics
Uzbek leader congratulates Russian president on the forthcoming Day of Russia
SCO has become an authoritative international organization, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov said in a recent interview with Chinese media
Salaries in Uzbekistan to rise by 20% from 1 July
Senate appoints Uzbek ambassadors to Israel, India
German delegation arrives in Uzbekistan

Business
Association of Oil, Fat and Food Industry created in Uzbekistan
Uzbekneftegaz to increase investments by 47% this year
Uzbekistan unifies customs legislation with those in EurAsEC countries
Tax system, business environment reform discussed in Tashkent
Baltic Beverages to invest 50mln euro in new Uzbekistan brewery
Russian trade office gets permission to be accredited in Uzbekistan
China to offer Uzbekistan 397 million USD in export buyer`s credit
Rubicon launches CDMA2000 standard in Uzbekistan
Tea and Coffee Exhibition opens in Tashkent
Uzbek, Japanese experts discuss promotion of Uzbek tourism product
Daewoo Electronics presents its new products in Uzbekistan
GEF, UNDP assist to development of renewable energy in Uzbekistan

Society
Azerbaijani TV broadcasts to aired in Uzbekistan

More information about the Republic of Uzbekistan you could find from the Internet site: www.uzbekistan.be

POLITICS

UZBEK LEADER CONGRATULATES RUSSIAN PRESIDENT ON THE FORTHCOMING DAY OF RUSSIA

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on the forthcoming Day of Russia, marked on 12 June, the press service of the Uzbek president said.

"Uzbekistan is glad and greatly satisfied to see Russia's growing strength, its stable and sustainable economic development and the well-thought-out line of action in the international arena," President Karimov said in his message.

He expressed his confidence that Uzbek-Russian allied relations would expand and grow stronger in the future. (UzReport.com)

SCO HAS BECOME AN AUTHORITATIVE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION, PRESIDENT OF UZBEKISTAN ISLAM KARIMOV SAID IN A RECENT INTERVIEW WITH CHINESE MEDIA

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has become an authoritative international organization after five years of development, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov said in a recent interview with Chinese media.

Islam Karimov, who is due to attend an SCO summit scheduled for June 15 in Shanghai, China, said the SCO, as a recognized international organization, had made great progress in various fields of cooperation with its significance and influence going beyond the region.

"The SCO has not only showed a vigorous vitality, but also been established as an international forum that can resolve regional issues, including cooperation in politics, security, economy and humanities," said the president.

He spoke of the development of and change in global situations, non-traditional threats to security, long-lasting "hotspots," danger posed by international terrorism, separatism and extremism, and drug-trafficking around the world, especially in central Asia.

All of the facts "have repeatedly indicated the timeliness and imminence of establishing and developing such international organizations as the SCO," Karimov said.

Karimov expressed his belief that there should be a wide prospect on the economic cooperation within the framework of the SCO.

When asked about measures taken by Uzbekistan to enhance and broaden cooperation with other SCO members, he said his country highly praised the cooperation among SCO members.

In the area of investment cooperation, Uzbekistan thinks the emphasis should be put on the fields such as the development of transportation and exploitation of rich water resource in the region.

Uzbekistan also put forward a series of proposals and took substantial measures to cope with terrorism, separatism and extremism in various forms, added Karimov.

He highlighted the important role played by the SCO’s regional anti-terrorism body, established in 2004 to coordinate SCO members’ anti-terrorist efforts.

In the field of humanities, Uzbekistan had paid more attention to the coordination in educational affairs, said the president.

"We welcome the agreement on educational cooperation within the framework of the SCO, which is to be signed during the summit in Shanghai," he said.

As for the SCO’s prospects and the upcoming summit, Karimov said SCO members "have a lot of things to do" in such fields as economy and security because the organization was still at its initial stage of development.

He said more and more countries hoped to participate in the SCO’s activities through various forms because of its rising political prestige, which proved that the organization had a promising prospect of development and became attractive to other nations.

Due to the rapid development of geopolitics and the globalization of economy and information, each cooperative mechanism of the SCO would be raised to a higher level, he said.

"I believe the commemorative summit can and should start a more effective approach that will jointly make use of opportunities and cope with current threats and challenges in the world," Karimov said.

Established in 2001, the SCO comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In 2004 and 2005, it accepted Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India as observers.

The heads of state of the six SCO member countries will attend the summit meeting, along with observers and representatives from countries and international organizations that have established cooperative relations with the SCO. (Xinhua)

SALARIES IN UZBEKISTAN TO RISE BY 20% FROM 1 JULY

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a decree on 9 June 2006 on increasing the salaries, pensions, stipends and social allowances starting from 1 July.

The decree said the increase is aimed at "further increasing the population's living level and strengthening social support of the country's citizens".

According to the document, the above-mentioned payments will increase 1.2 times on the average. The size of minimum salary set at 10,800 soums per month, pensions at 21,395 soums per month, allowances to disabled from birth to at 21,395 soums per month and allowances to aged and disabled citizens without record of work to 12,960 soums per month. (UzReport.com)

SENATE APPOINTS UZBEK AMBASSADORS TO ISRAEL, INDIA

Senate of Oliy Majlis appointed new ambassadors of Uzbekistan to Israel and India during its sixth plenary session on Saturday.

In accordance with the proposal of the President, the senators appointed Farhod Hakimov Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the State of Israel.

Saidakmal Saidaminov was appointed to the post of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Republic of India. (Information Agency “Jahon”)

GERMAN DELEGATION ARRIVES IN UZBEKISTAN

A visiting German delegation led by deputy of the Christian-Democratic Union/Christian-Social Union fraction at the German Bundestag (the lower house of parliament) Johann-Conrad Fromme had talks in several ministries and agencies June 9.

Also, delegation members met with the Speaker of Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Erkin Khalilov. The sides have noted the gradual development of relations between the two countries.

According to them, the arrangements reached by leaders of the two countries serve the basis for such relations. Yet this year o¬nly the Uzbek and German lawmakers are reported to have met thrice.

Besides, the sides have thoroughly discussed the prospects of bilateral cooperation.

German delegation also visited the Republican international cultural center in Tashkent. More than 130 nationalities and ethnicities, including the Germans, now reside in Uzbekistan, the report indicated.

As much as all other citizens of the country, they widely use the sovereignty-granted opportunities with further contributing to the development of the young independent nation, according to the report. (Information Agency “Jahon”)

ECONOMICS

ASSOCIATION OF OIL, FAT AND FOOD INDUSTRY CREATED IN UZBEKISTAN

Maslojirtabakprom (Edible Oil, Fat and Tobacco) Association and Pisheprom (Food Industry) Association merged into Oil, Fat and Food Industry Association.

The Uzbek President Islam Karimov signed a corresponding resolution on 30 May.

The document directed to improvement of management of oil, fat and food industry in Uzbekistan and attraction of foreign investment to modernization and re-equipment of enterprises of industry, as well as development of market mechanisms on realization of goods.

The resolution said the main tasks and directions of activity of the association is to hold marketing research of internal and external markets of oil, fat and food products, development and implementation of development programmes. The association should also assist enterprises of the industry to modernize and re-equip their capacities, attraction of foreign investments.

The association will work on increase competitiveness of products and increase their export, the document said.

The resolution said newly created association should submit charter within a month to Justice Ministry for registration.

The document also entrusted Economy Ministry, Finance Ministry, State Anti-Trust Committee, State Property Committee to submit proposal on regulation and control of tobacco industry. (UzReport.com)

UZBEKNEFTEGAZ TO INCREASE INVESTMENTS BY 47% THIS YEAR

Uzbekneftegaz (Uzbek Oil and Gas) National Holding Company is planning to increase the volume of capital investments to 934.9 billion soums this year, which exceeds 2005 indicator by 47%, according to the information provided by the company's management.

Five investment projects implemented by Uzbekneftegaz and worth US$175 million are included in the national investment programme for 2006.

In 2006, the oil processing plants of the company are planning to supply 5.533 million tonnes of raw material. In total the company is planning to produce 5.9 million tonnes of liquid hydrocarbons and 62.574 billion cbm of natural gas.

Founded in 1998, Uzbekneftegaz NHC unites four joint-stock companies. The company is the monopoly in oil and gas sector of Uzbekistan. According to state statistics, in 2005, Uzbekneftegaz NHC contracted the production of natural gas to 59.686 billion cbm, which is 0.3% lower then in than in 2004. The production of liquid hydrocarbons (oil, including gas condensate) declined by 17.2% to 5.449 million tonnes. The company's own funds in the total volume of capital investments this year will make up 723.8 billion soums (up by 32% against 2005), and foreign investments – 211.1 billion soums (up 2.44 times). (UzReport.com)

UZBEKISTAN UNIFIES CUSTOMS LEGISLATION WITH THOSE IN EURASEC COUNTRIES

Uzbekistan started work on unification of its customs legislation with the legislations of other countries of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC).

"Uzbekistan's accession to the Eurasian Economic Community poses certain tasks for the customs bodies of the country on further improvement of its activity, modernization of customs infrastructure for the purpose of bringing it to compliance with the norms accepted in the international practice," said the head of the juridical department of State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan Victor Chepiga.

He said that at this time work on creation of new draft of the Customs Code of Uzbekistan was being implemented.

"One of the reasons for the adoption of the new edition of the Customs Code is Uzbekistan's accession to the EurAsEC," he said.

Chepiga noted that apart from the Code, the work of the customs agencies is regulated by more than 25 decrees and resolutions of President and Government, and over 100 departmental instructions and regulations, registered by the Ministry of Justice, "which also need to be brought to compliance".

According to Chepiga, "there are in total 80 international agreements and contracts in the framework of the EurAsEC. Uzbekistan has to become part to 65 of these. Thirty of them related to the issues of customs affairs. The plan – schedule of accession to these documents has already been developed and approved. In the first half of the year, in terms of customs affairs we have to become part to 17 documents, and to 13 in the second half," said Victor Chepiga.

He emphasized that at the moment conceptual approaches have been developed to the development of the draft of the new edition of Customs Code, RIA Novosti reported.

"Now the key provisions of the Law on Customs Tariffs (particularly relating to the definition of the customs costs and rules of definition of the country of origin) will be included in the Customs Code," he said.

The official drew special attention to the fact that "not only the specialists of the State Customs Committee, but also concerned ministries and departments, scientific institutions, including higher Military Customs Institution, as well as international experts of European Customs, USAID and UNDP will participate in the process of the preparation of the draft law."

"We are planning to attract a wide circle of public to the discussion of the draft law," said the representative of the State Statistics Committee.

Moreover, Chepiga touched upon the issue of unification of the rates on import duties in the frames of EurAsEC. "Practice shows that this process may be long, primarily due to the existing differences in the level of countries' economic development," he said.

Speaking of the circulation of goods between the economic entities of EurAsEC member-states, he said that "the conception envisions control over the goods on the part of the tax agencies."

"But is a long-term prospective. Today it is very early to say that the customs control will be eliminated from the internal customs borders," emphasized SCC representative.

He said that it is envisaged to simplify the order of circulation of goods and currency by the individuals across the internal customs borders. "Uzbekistan joined the Community, and all norms included in the agreements, contracts, and protocols of the EurAsEC will be implemented in the national legislation," he said. (UzReport.com)

TAX SYSTEM, BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT REFORM DISCUSSED IN TASHKENT

Uzbekistan's Commission of Business Forum of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry hold a session to discuss reforms of the tax system and business environment on Thursday, 8 June.

The session aims to improve the business environment and development of the private sector through the improvement of legislative and tax policy, as well as to reveal problems in this sphere via dialogue between state bodies and businesses.

Representatives of the Uzbek Finance Ministry, Justice Ministry, State Tax Committee, Anti-Trust Committee, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, scientific-research institutes, international organizations, businesses will attend the meeting.

Uzbek leadership pays special attention to the further improvement of the tax policy in Uzbekistan to boost entrepreneurship. The session will discuss issues such as deepening tax reforms in the country, the simplification and unification of the taxation system and the improvement of tax administration.

The session will consider a wide-range of issues, which should boost entrepreneurship in Uzbekistan. It will also collect recommendations to a new edition of the Tax Code, which is under development now. Asia Pulse

BALTIC BEVERAGES TO INVEST 50 MLN EURO IN NEW UZBEKISTAN BREWERY

Baltic Beverages Holding AB (BBH), the joint venture company held equally between Scottish & Newcastle PLC and Carlsberg AS, is to invest 50 million euro in a new brewery in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The brewery will be operational by the spring of 2007, and will have an initial capacity of 1 million hectolitres per annum, with the ability to increase production subject to demand.

BBH will team up with a local partner in Uzbekistan, Sarbast Plus, and will hold a share of 75.1%, AFX reported.

Uzbekistan has a population of about 27 million, a growing economy and increasing levels of beer consumption. The domestic beer market has developed positively over the past couple of years and BBH believes that it has the potential to grow strongly in the future. (UzReport.com)

RUSSIAN TRADE OFFICE GETS PERMISSION TO BE ACCREDITED IN UZBEKISTAN

Russian trade office has got permission of corresponding bodies to be accredited in Uzbekistan, a Russian envoy told journalists.

Farit Muhametshin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Uzbekistan, said that the Russian trade office has been opened in Uzbekistan and it is the last in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). "We received a special note from the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Uzbekistan on 7 June," said Vladimir Kuznetsov, advisor for economic issues of the Russian embassy in Tashkent. "The note informed us that our trade office is getting accreditation and legal status in your country."

The office will have diplomatic status as well. "The Uzbek side has addressed us repeatedly for explanation of some issues, therefore the process of opening trade office in Uzbekistan took so much time," Kuznetsov noted.

Russian trade office will be independent enough in the issues of trade and economic sphere, in particular it will be responsible for organization of exhibitions, visits, presentations. The first step will be specification of the list of representative offices of Russian enterprises and of those with participation of the Russian capital in Uzbekistan. (UzReport.com)

CHINA TO OFFER UZBEKISTAN 397 MILLION USD IN EXPORT BUYER`S CREDIT

The Export-Import Bank of China said on Friday it will offer 397 million U.S. dollars in export buyer`s credit for 10 projects in Uzbekistan covering infrastructure and city construction.

According to the deals signed on Thursday between the Chinese state-owned policy bank and three Uzbekistan banks, five of the projects will be offered 197 million U.S. dollars in the credit, and they are part of the projects for which the Chinese government has promised a total of 900 million U.S. dollars in preferential buyer`s credit to some member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The three Uzbekistan banks are the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Industrial Bank of Uzbekistan, and the Bank of IPOTAKA, the Export-Import Bank of China said in a statement.

The remaining 200 million U.S. dollars are part of the 300 million U.S. dollars preferential export buyer`s credit committed by the Chinese government to its counterpart of Uzbekistan.

The Chinese bank said the signing of the deals will help facilitate economic and trade exchanges between the two countries, and help deepen friendly bilateral ties.

RUBICON LAUNCHES CDMA2000 STANDARD IN UZBEKISTAN

U.S.-Uzbek joint venture Rubicon Wireless Communications (RWC) has launched CDMA2000 network for 800MHtz frequency range in Uzbekistan.

RWC invested about U.S. $10 million in the network, the spokesperson said, adding that the investments were made from the own funds of the company's shareholders.

The equipment for the network was supplied by China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp.

The network currently covers the capital, Tashkent, and some areas in 10 Uzbek regions, the spokesperson said, adding that the company plans to expand the network country-wide by the end of the year.

RWC, created in 1996, is 30-owned by Uzbek national telecommunications operator Uzbektelecom. The U.S.' companies L&D International and Amis Protrade hold 35% in the operator each. RWC first operated DAMPS network but later shut it down and moved to CDMA-800 standard.

Rubicon Wireless Communications, also known as Perfectum Mobile, has about 60,000 users. (Prime-Tass)

TEA AND COFFEE EXHIBITION OPENS IN TASHKENT

The boom of exhibitions organized by the ITE international exhibition company has passed. IEG Exhibition Company decided to put the full stop to the winter-spring season with the specialized exhibition "Tea and Coffee". It was interesting too see and familiarize not only with the national tea-ceremony, but also to witness the tea preparation traditions of different countries.

At the press conference held at the International Business Center before the exhibition, the organizers and sponsors told many intriguing and interesting facts about tea and coffee, so the audience unselfconsciously wanted to go and make it sure for themselves. The opening of the exhibition "Tea and Coffee" was held on 9 June. The agiotage around the event turned out groundless. As the Russian saying states "you must spoil before you spin". After the opening speech of the exhibition organizers, the audience could go on and enjoy the tea and coffee ceremonies.

Tea is one of the most important items of the meal not only in Uzbekistan, but in many countries of the Orient. The first famous record about tea dates back to 770 B.C., when Chjou Goun of China described tea as a drink. Later in 2-4 centuries A.C. tea drinking becomes fancy, the first tea-selling stalls emerge. Later, tea came to be valued as a medicinal drink, which can be made using boiling water (before cold water had been used). Tea then quickly spreads to Japan, Korea, India, Turkey, Mongolia.

Tea is extremely popular in Uzbekistan. A guest is always treated a piala (cup) of tea. For the Uzbek nation tea is a drink suitable for any season or time of the day.

Meanwhile, the exhibition showed that Uzbek people know very little about the different sorts of tea, and practically do not know coffee. I was personally disappointed about the exhibition. The organizers promised all sorts of coffee, and tea of the famous producers such as Impra, Ahmad, Dilmah, different sorts of cacao, china for coffee and tea. But unfortunately I did not see all the different sorts and colours of tea. Unfortunately, I did not find the promised yellow, read and white sorts of tea.

Today coffee has become one of the most commonly consumed drinks in the world. More than a quarter of the world population starts their days with a hot cup of coffee. The taste, aroma, and energizing effect make coffee so attractive to many people. The quality of the coffee depends on several factors: the country of production, climatic conditions, compounding of grains, the degree of roasting, storage conditions, the procedure used in making the drink. At the exhibition you could not fee the smell of Nescafe, one of the most popular brands in Uzbekistan. Other famous brands such as Tchibo and Jacobs also did not participate in the exhibition. Of course instant coffee is very convenient, but the real coffee can be tasted only fresh-made: Turkish coffee with a glass of water to feel the real taste, Arabic coffee made on hot sand, the world is rich for coffee traditions! That's what the visitors of the exhibition hoped to see. But unfortunately these hopes did not realize.

The tea of Alokozay Tea Company was just about the most popular among the visitors. The company was the general sponsor of the exhibition, and had one of the most representative and colourful stands.

There were also several Chinese companies presenting their products, including herbal teas. But they were probably expecting make wholesale partners, and did not offer their products for tasting. The tea-drinking traditions were poorly presented, no ceremonies were demonstrated. No national china was used, most commonly it was paper cups.

In its essence, tea is a luxury. Food becomes luxurious, if it is prepared properly or if its reparation requires the use of unusual products, or it is served in a luxurious dish. Tea is drunk for pleasure. When a person intends to drink a cup of tea – he intends to receive certain pleasure. At home, when making the drink in a regular tea-pot, a person himself or herself is responsible for this pleasure, because everyone uses different methods of tea-making. An exhibition should have demonstrated the best qualities of using different sorts of tea and coffee, but unfortunately… They say a huge gap lies between an idea and its fulfillment. The idea of this exhibition was very nice, the result however flopped.

It should be noted that this is one of the first exhibition of IEG in Uzbekistan and probably inexperience of the company played against them. The company should make conclusions from the first lesson. (UzReport.com)

UZBEK, JAPANESE EXPERTS DISCUSS PROMOTION OF UZBEK TOURISM PRODUCT

Local tourism professionals and Japanese experts will discuss the issue of attracting tourists from Japan to Uzbekistan.

The Association of Private Tourism Agencies (APTO) of Uzbekistan, Uzbektourism National Company and Tashkent Office of the JICA organization will hold a workshop on the issues of promoting national tourism product of Uzbekistan on the Japanese market of outgoing tourism on 26 June.

At the press conference APTO said that along with the representatives of private tourist businesses and national tourism organization of Uzbekistan, the seminar will be attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Uzbekistan Mr Yuichi Kusumoto, staff of the offices and volunteers of JICA.

It is worth noting that this is not the first meeting of the tourist businesses of Uzbekistan attended by the Head of the Japanese diplomatic mission in Uzbekistan. Thus, in March of the present year, Mr Yuichi Kusumoto and JICA volunteers participated in the expanded meeting with the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investment and Trade, State Customs Committee and Uzbekiston Havo Yullari (Uzbekistan Airways) National Airline Company. Participants representing Japanese party provided useful recommendations on the work in the tourist market of Japan.

Last year, Tashkent hosted an international symposium for promotion of cultural-tourist exchange between the countries of Central Asia and Japan, organized by the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), its regional and specialized offices in Osaki and Samarkand, Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Infrastructure and Transportation, former Agency of Foreign Economic Affairs, and Uzbektourism National Company.

Around 100 Japanese representatives of the state and private sector, employed in the sphere of international tourism discussed the possibilities and prospects of attracting Japanese tourists to Central Asia based on the promotion of the Silk Road brand in the market of the outgoing tourism of Japan.

Foreign experts provided details to the local tour-operators about the peculiarities of the Japanese market of outgoing tourism, provided a number of important and significant recommendations on the provision of the tourist products of Central Asia in this market.

Thus, in particular, more than 80% of Japanese tourist think that the issues of security and neatness of the accommodation and catering are the most important during the trips abroad. In addition, women dominate in the tourist groups visiting Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, the average age of the tourist traveling to the countries of Central Asia varies from 50 to 69 and makes up 32% or nearly 5.5 million tourists of the total tourist flow. The expectations of the Uzbek tourism organizations about the benefits of the meeting were justified. Moreover, they are convinced that the conclusions and recommendations of the Japanese experts will help strengthen the positions of the Uzbek tourism in the Japanese market. (UzReport.com)

DAEWOO ELECTRONICS PRESENTS ITS NEW PRODUCTS IN UZBEKISTAN

Daewoo Electronics held a dealer conference on 8 June at Intercontinental Hotel in Tashkent. The aim of the conference was to introduce new products of the company to the dealers in Uzbekistan.

The Head of the Daewoo Electronics Europe GmbH office in Kazakhstan Shim Sung Ki, Marketing Manager of Daewoo Electronics Europe GmbH in Kazakhstan Asel Ashmuhambetova, Sales Manager of the company's office in Kazakhstan Dmitriy Lyutiy, representative of the company in Uzbekistan Atabek Klychev, and the chairman of the board of Zenith Electronics Closed Joint-Stock Joint Venture, Head of the Office in Uzbekistan Maksim Ni, and Commercial Director of Zenith Electronics Joint Venture Vyacheslav Shin attended the event.

The Head of the Daewoo Electronics Europe GmbH office in Kazakhstan Shim Sung Ki said "the company entered the market of Uzbekistan with serious intentions, great plans. We create technology to improve consumers' lives. Daewoo Electronics is a brand that deserves trust. And we constantly strive to justify the hopes and expectations of our customers. We hope for mutual understanding and partnership."

In the course of the conference, a presentation of the company's new products was held. In particular, the organizers presented the samples of new developments in the sphere of digital and household technology. Special interest was evoked towards the LCD and Projection TVs, gas panels with two built-in TV-tuners, a DVD recorder with the built-in hard disc capable of storing 160 Gb of information and DVD+R, DVD+RW discs; DVD Combo – 6-head VCR with NICAM – stereotuner and a DVD player in one corpus; musical centers with the recording capacity of up to 65 Wt/kn with 8 fixed equalizer settings and full remote control. The new models of the microwave ovens with toaster function, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, ACs, and fridges were also presented. At the presentation it was said that Daewoo Electronics' official dealer in Uzbekistan was Zenith Electronics JV. In the short future, it is intended to set up the production of many new models of the supplied products at the plant in Uzbekistan. (UzReport.com)

GEF, UNDP ASSIST TO DEVELOPMENT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN UZBEKISTAN

UNDP project "Assistance to development of renewable energy in Uzbekistan" held its working meeting in Tashkent. The project is financed by Global Ecology Fund (GEF) and UNDP office in Uzbekistan.

The project aimed at assistance to the Uzbek government in preparation of strategy on development of renewable energy market. The main task of preliminary phase of the project is to prepare project to medium-sized project of GEF.

Preliminary phase will include two components, including assessment of general line for project and preparation of project itself. (UzReport.com)

SOCIETY

AZERBAIJANI TVBROADCASTS TO AIRED IN UZBEKISTAN

On the sidelines of the 35th meeting of the Regional Communications Union member-countries, Minister of Communication and Information Technology of Azerbaijan Ali Abbasov met with Director General of the Communication and Information Agency of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov to discuss the possibility for Azerbaijani TV channels to telecast their programs through the cable. A. Aripov said this issue would be considered after Azerbaijani side’s request and pledged the answer will be positive. (AzerTag)