July 29, 2009

Politics:
Uzbekistan, Japan Hold Foreign Ministerial Consultations
Economics:
Andijan Province Sums Up Outcomes of 2009 1H Development
Tashkent’s GRP grows 13.6%
Tashkent to host CAITME, TextileExpo exhibitions in September
Investment in Modernization and Reconstruction
Ipoteka-bank issued 211 billion soums worth of credits in 1H 2009
Society:
State Radio Frequencies Commission Discusses 1/2 Year Results
Talents Revealed in Early Childhood
Healthy Mother, Healthy Child

POLICY

UZBEKISTAN, JAPAN HOLD FOREIGN MINISTERIAL CONSULTATIONS

On July 27 this year the political consultations between foreign ministries of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Japan were held in the city of Tashkent, the news release by the Uzbek Foreign Ministry’s Press-Service said July 28 this year.

During the consultations the sides had an exchange of views on the state and prospects of the bilateral cooperation in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres.

The sides paid an attention to the discussions of the urgent international and regional issues of mutual interest, including the situation in Afghanistan, according to the news release.

ECONOMY

ANDIJAN PROVINCE SUMS UP OUTCOMES OF 2009 1H DEVELOPMENT

The session of the group of regional activists took place in Andijan dedicated to the outcomes of social and economic development of the province during the first half of 2009, as well as the urgent tasks of sustainable development of economy.

The session – which was presided over by the Khokim (governor) of the province Akhmadjon Usmonov – paid a special attention to accomplishing tasks set in the report by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov at the session of the Cabinet of Ministers on February 13 this year.

The consistent reforms being accomplished in Andijan Province serve for the development of social and economic spheres, agricultural sector, modernization of industrial enterprises and raising people’s living standards, Jahon Information Agency reported.

During the first half of this year the production of the gross regional product as compared with the same period last year made up 110,6 percent. Manufacturing of industrial products grew by 17 percent, production of consumer goods – by 20 percent, agricultural goods – by 6,3 percent, construction materials – by 23 percent, and the circulation of the retail trade – by 9,6 percent.

The volume of foreign investments and credits, which have been assimilated in line with regional investment program, made up 3,9 million US dollars. Four enterprises have been commissioned with involvement of foreign investments.

As a result of the work now underway based on the Anti-crisis action program, the demand in industrial products is in rise well beyond Uzbekistan, as well. The volume of exports for over the past period made up 135 million US dollars.

Also, a special attention is being paid in Andijan Province, as much as elsewhere in the nation, to employing population, supporting small business and private entrepreneurship. Organization of small enterprises and servicing stations at the countryside areas creates a firm basis to improving the agricultural infrastructure and raising people’s incomes.

At the same time, the province suffered from a range of shortcomings and deficiencies for over the past period in social and economic sphere. On various reasons the nine joint ventures stopped their operations. Yet another example: not a single JV has been established in Buz District with attraction of foreign partners. Besides, not a single enterprise on processing the local raw has been established in Ulugnor, Izboskan, Pakhtaobad, Jalolkuduk and Khojaobod districts. Such state of affairs has been criticized.

The delegates to the session are reported to have defined the concrete measures in terms of addressing the said shortcomings.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Ulugbek Rozukulov took a floor at the session, according to the report.

TASHKENT’S GRP GROWS 13.6%

Gross regional product of Tashkent increased by 13.6% in the first half of 2009, it was announced at the session of the city council.

The industrial production in January-June grew by 13.7%, consumer goods production by 15%, construction works by 20.6%, services by 20.8% and exports increased by 46.5%, National News Agency UzA reported.

In the framework of the industrial modernization and localization program, import-substituting production worth UZS 196.4 billion was produced.

Tashkent will celebrate its 2,200th anniversary in September. In this regard, wide-scale construction and improvement works are under way in the city.

In the six months, a number of colleges and lyceums, sports complexes and swimming pools, medical and social institutions were built. Historical monuments are being renewed and reconstructed.

TASHKENT TO HOST CAITME, TEXTILEEXPO EXHIBITIONS IN SEPTEMBER

The Central Asian International Textile Machinery Exhibition will take place from 15-17 September in the Uzexpocentre, Tashkent, Uzreport Information Portal report.

The exhibition represents the full cycle of textile production and showcases the latest textile industry technologies: machinery for spinning preparation, man-made fibre production and spinning; auxiliary machinery and accessories; weaving preparatory machinery; weaving, knitting and hosiery machinery; washing, bleaching, dyeing, printing, drying, finishing and make-up machinery; laboratory testing and measuring equipment; equipment for recycling, waste reduction and pollution prevention; accessories; and technical servicing for textile equipment.

More than 150 companies from 23 countries are expected to take part in CAITME 2009. Many companies consider their participation in CAITME 2009 a strategic decision necessary to maintain a leading position in the industry and, more specifically, in the Central Asian market.

The 6th International Exhibition for Textiles and Fashion, TextileExpo Uzbekistan 2009, will be held alongside the CAITME 2009 exhibition. The exhibition promotes effective negotiations between local textile manufacturers and international companies working in the industry. TextileExpo Uzbekistan 2009 presents the end process of textile production – namely, raw materials for manufacturing fabrics, fabrics, knitted clothes and finished products.

As CAITME 2009 is unique event in Central Asia, it is eagerly awaited by those working in the textile industries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The two exhibitions bring together the textile machinery and manufacturing industry, and attract great interest from international and domestic companies, and representatives attending the exhibition with a view to purchasing equipment and agreeing contracts.

CAITME 2009 and TextileExpo Uzbekistan 2009 is organised by ITE Uzbekistan, a member of UFI, and ITE Exhibitions&Conferences Ltd. (UK).

INVESTMENT IN MODERNIZATION AND RECONSTRUCTION

Spanish business gets involved in reconstruction of Uzbekistan’s municipal facilities.

The Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by Uzkommunhizmat Agency and Spain-based companies Elecnor and Atlas Consorcion AIE. The document provides for preparation and implementation of joint investment projects in water-supply engineering, environmental protection, wastewater purification, household wastes processing.

Experience of Spain that has a bit larger territory and almost the same climate, is very important for our country. The recent visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Spain Miguel Angel Moratinos and Uzbek-Spanish business forum held at the same time with participation of ministries, agencies and big companies gave a new impulse for further expansion of relations between our countries and new opportunities in using abovementioned experience.

“The signed memorandum has opened broad prospects for Spanish businesses in participation of reconstruction of Uzbekistan’s municipal facilities,” said Raphael Menendez, Vice President of Atlas Consorcion AIE and head of representative office of Spanish companies in Uzbekistan. “At present we are considering issues of reconstruction in the heating system in Andijan city, a major industrial and cultural center in the eastern part of Ferghana Valley. The Spanish Government has issued a preferential loan for this project. The project will allow to optimize heating and ensure quality services to customers.”

The project is aimed at decreasing the emission of carbon dioxide and natural gas use for heating. Documents are being prepared for feasibility study on plants to be built for municipal solid wastes processing in Nukus and Namangan cities and producing compost for rural areas.

The abovementioned projects will serve as prototypes for reconstruction of municipal facilities in other populated centers of Uzbekistan.

IPOTEKA-BANK ISSUED 211 BILLION SOUMS WORTH OF CREDITS IN 1H 2009

Ipoteka-bank has summed up the results of activity in the first half of 2009. The bank actively carried out measures on increase of capitalization. Thus, own funds of the bank grew 7.3% (7 billion soums) in the reporting period and have made up 103 billion soums, Uzreport Information Portal reported.

In line with the general shareholders' meeting on results of 2008 Ipoteka-bank's reserve fund has been replenished with 40% of the bank's net profit (6 billion soums).

In January-June 2009, Ipoteka-bank issued credits to economic entities and individuals worth a total of 211.3 billion soums. The balance of credit investments of the bank as of 1 July 2009 comprised 359.4 billion soums. The share of credit investments in the bank's total assets made up 54.8%.

Ipoteka-bank assists actively the development of small and private business. As of 1 July 2009, the bank's functional divisions were serving 51,915 small business entities. In all, the bank's branches allocated some 77.9 billion soums to support this sector.

The volume of Ipoteka-bank's loans to small businesses exceeded 91 billion soums as of 1 July 2009, which is 25.3% of the total sum of credit investments. Some 3,870 work places have been created thanks to the credits issued to small business sector support.

In the first half of 2009, Ipoteka-bank continued work on expansion of mortgage crediting. During this period the bank issued mortgage credits to 600 individuals worth 15.6 million soums for buying houses/apartments, as well as construction and reconstruction of own houses.

In the reporting period the bank continued developing the system of cashless payments, including due to increase of the volume of transactions through plastic cards in national currency. As of 1 July 2009, the bank was serving 504,800 plastic cards, 2,947 units of terminal equipment, 11 ATMs. In the first six months of 2009 the bank emitted additionally 4,500 plastic cards and installed 4 new ATMS in densely-populated points of Tashkent.

The sum of transaction on plastic cards reached 187.4 billion soums in 1H 2009, while cashless payments made up 85.4 billion soums, which is 3.5 times more than in 1H 2008. The balance on cards as of 1 July 2009 comprised 26.1 billion soums, which is 1.5 times (15.9 billion soums) more on the year-on-year basis.

SOCIETY

STATE RADIO FREQUENCIES COMMISSION DISCUSSES 1/2 YEAR RESULTS

The session of the State commission on radio frequencies of the Republic of Uzbekistan took place in Tashkent, according to the Pravda Vostoka national newspaper.

The outcomes of work for over the first half of this year have been discussed at the session, the newspaper reported.

Those, who took a floor at the session, have said that in line with schedule of work the State commission had accomplished and continues the work in terms of distributing and rationally using the radio frequency spectrum, going from analogous to a digital television broadcasting, registering the radio frequency assignments and their international legal protection, getting prepared for the World Radio Communication Conference, revising and introducing amendments and addenda into the normative documents in the sphere of using the radio frequency spectrum.

The speakers also spoke on introducing amendments into the “Instruction on the order of registration and exploitation of amateur radio stations on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan” in terms of clarifying the frequency bands used by amateur services, according to the newspaper.

Also, based on practical results the amendments and addenda have been introduced into the Temporary statute “On the order of monitoring broadcasting of state programs on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan”.

TALENTS REVEALED IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

A project on building a kindergarten in each kishlak (village) is carried out in Samarkand region. According to specialists, this will favor increasing the number of children attending kindergartens, and raising the quality of their preparation for school. Local authorities have accumulated considerable experience in arrangement of activity in pre-school educational institutions that would be used in establishing new kindergartens.

Specialists single out the experience of educational complex in Samarkand city on the basis of Students’ Creativity House among other promising options of preschool and primary education arrangement. Nowadays it combines functions of creativity house, kindergarten with part-time groups and primary school. “Such combination allows our children revealing their talents on the early stage,” Gulshat Babadjanova, director of the complex says. By the way, children under this pedagogical team charge are constantly among first prize winners in republican contests.

It is notable that the region has examples of organization of specialized kindergartens’ activity. There is, for instance, the kindergarten ¹87 of Samarkand city. At the first sight it is a conventional one. The education process there is held according to the program The Third Millennium Child applied in the majority of kindergartens of the republic. However, according to the head Ruhsora Yakubova, there is one peculiarity in her staff’s activity: they educate children with iron-deficiency anemia. The institution is implementing the health-improvement program according to which children get medical nutrition.

The Samarkand kindergarten ¹ 60 is known by its experience in inclusive education development. Children with locomotive system diseases are brought up there: there are both children with light aberration and those with cerebral paralysis. “Thanks to corrective program we manage to achieve high results in preparation of children for school,” Galina Samatova, the head, emphasizes.

HEALTHY MOTHER, HEALTHY CHILD

The implementation of the “Program of measures on the further enhancement and raising the effectiveness of the work on strengthening reproductive health of population, healthy child delivery, formation of physically and spiritually developed generation for 2009-2013”, has started in Uzbekistan.

Mrs. Roza Djubatova, chief pediatrician of the Ministry of Healthcare, Director of the Republican Scientific Practical Medical Center for Pediatrics:

This program, approved this year by the Resolution of the President of Uzbekistan on July 1, is directed to the improvement of system on population’s reproductive health strengthening, material and technical base and assistance rendered by motherhood and childhood protection institutions, catalyzing the explanatory work with population on the issues of delivery and upbringing of healthy children.

The complex of measures on enhancing the quality of compulsory preventive examination of adolescent girls and medical examination of fertile women is carried out. As before, the entire coverage of all espousing persons with premarital medical examination will be provided. All motherhood and childhood protection institutions will improve their activity. The work of 176 medical institutions awarded to the UNICEF certificate Institution with Friendly Care of a Child will be hold up as an example. This certificate approves that specialists of a clinic stick to the rules of taking care of women and children recommended by the World Health Organization.

The rigging rural ambulance units with modern medical equipment will continue within the program. The similar work will be carried out in children’s multisectoral medical centers, clinics of the Tashkent institute of pediatrics and our center. Regional prenatal centers will expand the number of rendered services as well. The program is also providing for measures on advanced training of medical workers engaged in the motherhood and childhood protection system.

Nine measures of the program are directed for enhancement of the explanatory work with population on the issues of upbringing of healthy children, cultivation of drive for creation of healthy and problem-free family in young people, introduction of the healthy life-style. Over ten organizations such as Women’s Committee, Mahalla Fund, Youth’s Public Movement Kamolot, Ministry of Healthcare, Ministry of Public Education, Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education as well as youths’ periodicals and television are involved into this activity.

With the purpose of arrangement of conditions for full-fledged physical and harmonious development of children and adolescents, formation of physically healthy and spiritually developed growing generation the work on implementation of the National strategy for improved nutrition of population to be continued. This complex of measures also provides for the further healthy life-style popularization, involvement of children and adolescents into active physical training and attendance of sports sections and tourist clubs.