June 22, 2007
Politics:
Legislative Chamber holds session, adopts several laws
Economics:
ADB team visits Uzbekistan
UzbekInvest Company management meets with Kazakh Envoy to Uzbekistan
Navoi Machine Plant holds presentation of its products
NBU enters MIGOM money transfer system
Society:
Islam Karimov visited Namangan and Andijan regions
Surgeons of Italian Bergamo Hospital visit Uzbekistan
Exhibition «Tashkent yesterday and today» opened in Uzbekistan
The Republican Contest Of Youth Performers In Tashkent
POLITICS
LEGISLATIVE CHAMBER HOLDS SESSION, ADOPTS SEVERAL LAWS
The Legislative Chamber (lower house) of Oliy Majlis (parliament) of the Republic of Uzbekistan held its next session on 21 June. Deputies approved the agenda submitted by the chamber's council.
A.Abdunazarov, a member of the Committee for Industry, Construction and Trade, presented Draft Law "On making amendments and addenda in the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On rational use of energy", submitted for consideration in the third reading. The parliament's lower house took into account proposals of deputies and adopted the law.
S.Jabbarov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Legislation and Judicial-Legal Issues, reported on the Draft Law "On administrative procedures". After discussions with participation of the representatives of all political parties' factions, deputies adopted the law.
Z.Botirova, a member of the Committee for Labour and Social Issues, delivered a report on the Draft Law "On making amendments and addenda in the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On protection of citizens' health". In the course of discussions it was noted that the changes should be introduced in connection with further improvement of the law's separate norms. The Legislative Chamber decided to reconsider the document in the second reading after finalization, taking into account the remarks and recommendations of discussions.
Deputies examined also the Draft Law "On making amendments and addenda in the Article 19 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On telecommunications", presented by A.Jurabaev, a member of the Committee for Information and Telecommunication Technologies. The chamber adopted the law after discussions.
ECONOMICS
ADB TEAM VISITS UZBEKISTAN
The team lead by Patrick Pillon, Asian Development Bank Executive Director for Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland met with senior government officials of Uzbekistan, where they had an opportunity to exchange views with them on various questions with regards to the further development of cooperation and prospects of bilateral relations with Uzbekistan.
The wide range of economic reformations being carried out by the state in Uzbekistan continuously evokes the interest all over the globe.
The thoroughly chosen path of development and sustainable growth of people’s social welfare in the country has been fruitful and is giving results. Under the careful management on the side of the Government, the subsequent realization of a very wide range of national programs and nationwide deeds brought into the reality due to the current national priorities put forward by the President of the country, the extend of improvements have been noteworthy.
The delegation also met with representatives of the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan. At the talks the sides exchanged views on the current state and prospects of further developing the mutually beneficial cooperation.
These and other factors concerning the country’s performance both economically and financially have drawn the attention of talks that took place within the visit of a team of Board of Directors from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) who arrived in Uzbekistan with a five-day visit.
ADB delegation held talks with Mr. Ravshan Fayzullaev, the Chairman of the Uzbek Association for Transport and Transport Communications.
During the meeting the prospects of cooperation in the sphere of transport and transport communications, in particular, opportunities for developing and implementing new projects were discussed.
The team also took a field visit to a few project sites, including Ak-Altin Agriculture Development Project in Syrdarya region, Senior Secondary Education Project in Samarkand, Second Textbook Development Project and Information Communication Technology in Basic Education Project in Bukhara. During the talks with local authorities that passed in a friendly and business manner, the members of the team highly evaluated the scale of improvements and an outstanding level of development of activities in line with the said projects and expressed their hope for their further growth and flourishing.
Within the visit the team met with the representatives of major development partners, as well as the representatives from both local and international private sector and nongovernmental organizations in the course of which the sides exchanged views on climate for private sector operations and social development.
UZBEKINVEST COMPANY MANAGEMENT MEETS WITH KAZAKH ENVOY TO UZBEKISTAN
A meeting between the management of UzbekInvest National Export and Import Insurance Company and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. Askar Mirzahmetov was held on 15 June at the company's conference hall.
The meeting was planned as a part of the Programme of Economic Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for 2006-2010. The parties discussed the issues relating to the development of strategy cooperation between the insurance companies of both countries.
In particular, the parties discussed the prospects of cooperation expansion between UzbekInvest and the State Insurance Corporation for Export Credit and Investment Insurance of Kazakhstan, and the draft of the cooperation agreement with Kazakhinstrah. This cooperation provides the framework for insurance and reinsurance of foreign trade risks associated with trade operations between the two countries. The documents also envisage the sharing of experience and information in the field of export and import insurance.
For the purpose of creating favourable and equal conditions for the insurance companies of Uzbekistan in the joint work with their Kazakh counterparts, UzbekInvest proposed to revise the conditions suggested by Kazakh party envisaging mandatory international rating of companies – members of the Eurasian Economic Community.
At the same time, as a result of the talks on the state priorities in stimulation of the inflow of foreign investments, and creation of favourable investment climate in Uzbekistan, the parties have agreed on the organization of a conference or a presentation on insurance investments and export-import operations with participation of the representatives of UzbekInvest company, banking and finance structures of both countries and potential Kazakh investors.
NAVOI MACHINE PLANT HOLDS PRESENTATION OF ITS PRODUCTS
Over the years of independence, production at the leading industrial enterprise of Navoi region – Navoi Machine Plant (NMP) has expanded nearly three times, Pravda Vostoka reported.
NMP's annual sales of machines, equipment, metalwork and components total some 4 billion soums. The enterprise contributes about one fourth of the country's total exports, newspaper wrote.
Yet the company has a vast unused production potential. There is space for further expansion of production of import-substituting and export-oriented goods. This was stressed during the presentation-exhibition held at the NMP earlier this week.
The representatives of the country's metallurgy giants – Almalyk, Angren and Bekabad Metallurgy Complexes, as well as Bukharian oil and gas extraction enterprises and UzSanoat Company showed particular interest in the exhibition of the Navoi Plant. Their specialists gave a high mark to the import-substituting production capacity of the largest machine plant in Central Asia.
NBU ENTERS MIGOM MONEY TRANSFER SYSTEM
The National Bank of Uzbekistan for Foreign Economic Activity (NBU) has entered the MIGOM international money transfer system operated by the European Trust Bank.
European Trust Bank has signed a contract with the NBU, according to which the latter will be able to receive and send MIGOM money transfers.
"Cooperation with a bank that is "the business card" of Uzbekistan's banking system in the international financial markets is very important to us," said Deputy Head of the MIGO Business Project Department Lev Chugunov. "The National Bank of Uzbekistan has a strong reputation of a professional financial institution and a reliable partner, which suits with the needs of MIGOM clients."
NBU is soon to open a number of new service points that will support MIGOM international money transfer operations on the territory of Uzbekistan.
MIGOM money transfer system was launched in 2002. It now has 4,000 points across the CIS.
SOCIETY
ISLAM KARIMOV VISITED NAMANGAN AND ANDIJAN REGIONS
On June 21 the President Islam Karimov visited Namangan and Andijan regions to get acquainted with ongoing social and economic reforms.
Uzbek leader familiarized with reconstruction works at the airport of Namangan city.
Each airport has its strategic importance. President gave recommendations and tasks for further improvements.
He visited Turakurgan district, which has had great success in cotton and grain production. He then visited the Tashkent farm in Kasansay district.
President Karimov spoke about increasing the cultural level of farmers, fertility of the soil, living standards, and providing incentives to workers, increasing jobs and organizing work more effectively.
SURGEONS OF ITALIAN BERGAMO HOSPITAL VISIT UZBEKISTAN
Cardiac surgery is one of the most complex disciplines in medicine. The expansion scientific research and international cooperation in this field serves as an important factor in improving the diagnosis and treatment of cardio-vascular diseases (CVD).
Gradual solution of tasks outlined in the Presidential Decree on State Programme of Reforms in the Healthcare System also contributes to the development of this field of medicine in Uzbekistan. A bright example of this is the scientific-practical work being carried out by the Specialised Surgery Centre named after Academician V. Vahidov under the Ministry of Healthcare of Uzbekistan.
The scientists and medical personnel of the centre, which cooperates with a number of prestigious scientific institutions of the world, have extensive experience in treatment of inborn and acquired forms of CVD. This medical institution provide surgical treatment together with the specialists of the leading foreign clinics, share experience with foreign partners, learn from the best practices accumulated in science and practice. In the framework of this cooperation, the specialists of the Bergamo Hospital (Italy) have visited Uzbekistan for the third time to participate in about ten joint surgeries, UzA reported.
"We have been cooperating with our Uzbek colleagues for nearly three years," said Italian surgeon Amedeo Terzi. "I should say that the doctors in your country have big experience in surgery. For one week we we did surgeries on the patients suffering from CVD together. We shared experience in the fields of cardiac surgery, cardiology and anesthesiology."
Specialised Surgical Centre named after Academician Vahidov is a modernly equipped medical institutions, unique in its scientific-practical potential. The centre has recently purchased new artificial blood-circulating equipment.
All these improvements are the result of consistent reforms being implemented in the country for the purpose of strengthening the health status of the population, promoting healthy lifestyle, and improving the quality and expanding the scale of medical services.
EXHIBITION «TASHKENT YESTERDAY AND TODAY» OPENED IN UZBEKISTAN
Uzbekistan accomplishes a wide-scale work on preserving and restoring its national values, studying history, developing in the younger generation love for Motherland and loyalty for ideas of national independence. Uzbekistan is famous in the world for its great contribution to the development of Islamic civilization and culture. Therefore, the ISESCO (Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) announced Tashkent a capital of Islamic culture in 2007. It makes every Uzbek citizen proud and responsible for the development of the capital. Various events, conferences, roundtables and exhibitions on Tashkent are regularly held in Uzbekistan.
Recently the exhibition “Tashkent yesterday and today” was opened in the State Museum of the History of Uzbekistan. It basically focused on describing all development stages of Tashkent. The exhibition displayed archeological discoveries, objects of ethnography, numismatics and architecture showing historical way of Tashkent’s development.
Leading historians, archeologists and art critics of Uzbekistan participated in the opening of this exhibition.
A well-known scientist, archeologist and academician Edward Rtveladze said that “the Tashkent yesterday and today” demonstrated all verges of past and present. Tashkent is still striking the world community with its architectural monuments, legacy of great scholars, calligraphists and artists, libraries and museums which store their manuscripts.
The original decorations of this exposition were one of the oldest copies of Holy Quran “Usman mushafi”, manuscript of Nizomiddin Shomy’s “Zafarnoma”, manuscript Alisher Navoi’s “Chor devon” created in the 15th century and models of miniatures.
In addition, the exhibition presented detailed information on architectural monuments reflecting the historical way of ancient Shosh such as Barakkhan, Kaldirgachby and Yunuskhan’s mausoleum, their pictures and other valuable documents.
The Director of the State Museum of the History of Uzbekistan Jannat Ismailova says that the Uzbek people is remarked with international and interfaith tolerance. Representatives of 120 nations live in Tashkent today. A section of exhibition displayed basic faiths of Tashkent’s inhabitants.
This exhibition witnessed the continuity and succession of our history.
The “Tashkent yesterday and today” is open till late 2007.
THE REPUBLICAN CONTEST OF YOUTH PERFORMERS IN TASHKENT
On the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the independence of Uzbekistan a republican contest of young performers was held in Tashkent by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the local papers reported. About 400 pupils from various colleges and academic lyceums of culture, music and arts demonstrated their talents and masterful performances.
The contenders showed their abilities and skills to play on the national, string, keyboard, wind and percussion musical instruments as well as in the category of dance and theatre art.
- I am glad that I was able to secure the top place among the girls in the category of popular music, - said Janna Elmurodova, the pupil of the Nukus college of arts and culture. There are all necessary opportunities for the youth in Uzbekistan to study and reveal their talents. And we must respond to that by our decent results and active endeavors.