September 17, 2010

Politics:
President Meets Petronas Chief
Uzbekistan-United Nations: Toward Common Goals of Preserving Peace
Implementation of Millennium Development Goals discussed in Tashkent

Economics:
Moody's New Forecast Positive on Uzbekistan
Navoi FIEZ capable of turning Central Asia into a new global center of development
Information Technologies: New Ideas and Advancement Prospects

Society:
Fostering the Learning Process
Judoist Rishod Sobirov becomes world champion



POLICY

President Meets Petronas Chief

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov met with Dato’ Shamsul Azhar Abbas, President of the Malaysian Petronas, on September 16 in Oqsaroy.

Welcoming the guest, the head of our state stressed the sustained and steadfast development of our country’s relations with Petronas.

”We are earnestly glad to welcome you in Tashkent, and in your person I would like to express my sincere respect to the leadership of Malaysia and all the Malaysian people with whom we have enjoyed friendly relations. One of the greatest achievements of Malaysia, in our opinion, is a balanced and well-thought-out nature of policies implemented in many spheres of nation’s life which, in turn, deserves close study,” Islam Karimov said.

Founded in 1974, Petronas oil and gas company today commands a robust position in the global hydrocarbon industry. In Uzbekistan, Petronas conducts exploration in several investment blocks in Ustyurt and Surkhondaryo. In cooperation with Sasol, a major South African company that specializes in mining, manufacturing of diesel fuel and liquefied gas, Petronas has been active in a large-scale project in Uzbekistan with an objective to set up a synthetic fuels plant to produce diesel fuel, jet fuel and liquefied gas.

In the course of Petronas leadership’s visit to our country, a production sharing agreement has been signed to develop the Gajak field in Boysun district of Surkhondaryo region, meaning that the work switches to a stage of direct development.

During the meeting at Oqsaroy, Dato’ Shamsul Azhar Abbas expressed his sincere gratitude to the head of our state for the warm welcome and pointed out Petronas’ interest in enhancing its investment cooperation with Uzbekistan.

Implementation of existing projects and joint elaboration of prospective programs have been discussed at the talk.

Uzbekistan-United Nations: Toward Common Goals of Preserving Peace

A delegation of Uzbekistan will take part in the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals to be held on September 20-22 in the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. According to the UN Information Center in Tashkent, the Uzbek delegation will report on the country's progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

One of the main directions of Uzbekistan's foreign policy is to strengthen international cooperation to preserve stability and peace, both at regional and global levels.

In this regard, the UN is a unique platform for international dialogue, exchange and coordination among its members to maintain peace and stability and finding solutions to global problems.

Over 18 years of cooperation, the profound political and organizational work to strengthen and enhance fruitful cooperation with the UN was made in Uzbekistan.

To date, Uzbekistan and the UN connects effective cooperation in various fields, is an intensive search for solutions to priority issues of regional security. This, above all, dealing with the situation in Afghanistan and promoting post-conflict reconstruction of that country.
In this context, the UN appreciates the efforts of our country to establish peace and stability in Afghanistan.

The current position of Uzbekistan on the Afghan problem comes from the fact that a more meaningful role in resolving this long-standing conflict can and should play states bordering Afghanistan, as well as those actually influencing the situation in Afghanistan, leading countries in the world. That is why Uzbekistan has consistently called for the resumption of activities under the auspices of the UN Contact Group in the format “6+3” including neighboring states, China and Russia, the USA and NATO.

Uzbekistan has repeatedly stated its firm commitment to strengthening the central coordinating role of the UN in organizing international response to the terrorist threat. Our country has acceded to all 13 UN instruments against terrorism and put forward major initiatives to consolidate the efforts of the international community in this area.
One of the most significant is the proposal to establish an International Center for Combating Terrorism.

It is indisputable that solution to the problem of preservation of human life is impossible without some understanding of contemporary environmental problems. In this context, both for Uzbekistan and all Central Asian states the most important issue is the problem of the Aral Sea.

Our country stands for increasing the participation of specialized UN agencies in addressing the Aral Sea crisis.

At the Tashkent in April this year, meeting with Uzbek President Islam Karimov, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has commended the consistent and constructive approach of the leadership of our state to address topical issues of regional and international development.

Eighteen years of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the UN had laid a solid foundation for effective interaction in order to achieve peace and stability in Central Asia. Undoubtedly, the further expansion of cooperation with the UN and its agencies will promote further prosperity of our region.

Tashkent hosted an international round table on “Uzbekistan and the UN Millennium Development Goals: Progress and Prospects.”

Organized by the National Center for Human Rights of Uzbekistan, Institute for the Study of Civil Society in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme in Uzbekistan, the event gathered the members of the Senate, deputies of Oliy Majlis, representatives of various ministries and agencies, international organizations, experts and scholars.

The director of National Center for Human Rights A. Saidov, director of the Institute for Civil Society Studies M. Usmanov stressed that large-scale reforms, being implemented in Uzbekistan under the leadership of President Karimov to build a democratic state and strong civil society, economic liberalization, increase of welfare of the people, have produced notable results. Measures aimed at ensuring the rights and freedoms of a person in Uzbekistan, serve to further deepen the democratic, social, economic and political reforms.

Held in the country of reform are important factor for large-scale implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. In particular, the National program for cadres training allows you to transition to a twelve-year continuous education system, root and branch reform and improve the quality of education, training highly qualified personnel. Radical reforms undertaken in the health sector are an important factor in improving public health, the full system upgrade health services, creating the highest of standards for hospitals providing public emergency medical services, improving the quality and scope of medical services.

“I participated in hearings at the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis on a course of performance of the UN Millennium Goals in Uzbekistan,” said the regional director of U.S. National Democratic Institute Clark Plexico. “I’d like to emphasize that Uzbekistan is a country which chose a right path of development. The national legislative framework for the protection of personal, social, economic, political and cultural rights of citizens is fully formed in your country.”

During the round table discussions, it was noted that protection of human rights and interests in Uzbekistan were fully complied with international legal norms and it was a priority direction of social development, nation building, domestic and foreign policy.

Such areas as economics, education and environment have been consistently developed in Uzbekistan, the Resident Representative of the UNDP in Uzbekistan Anita Nirody stressed during the discussion. She also highlighted the results of large-scale reforms implemented in the protection of the rights and lawful interests of citizens.

“Over a short period Uzbekistan achieved tremendous success in building a democratic state and civil society,” Nirody said. “The timely adoption of crisis program in Uzbekistan and its compliance with existing conditions and the focus have served an important factor in overcoming the negative effects of the global economic crisis.”

The reports on the implementation of UN Millennium Development Goals in Uzbekistan and their organizational and legal foundations were presented during the meeting. The sides exchanged views on further development of women’s social activities, strengthening the ecological stability, further development of the education system, etc.

ECONOMY

Moody's New Forecast Positive on Uzbekistan

The Moody's International Rating Agency has published a review of “Uzbekistan. Forecast of the banking system”, which includes an assessment of the banking system of Uzbekistan predicted by this development agency of as stable.

According to the survey, this assessment reflects sustainability of Uzbekistan’s banks during the global economic crisis, the stability of the quality of their assets and increase of capitalization level. The country's ongoing economic growth eliminated the risk of deteriorating financial condition of bank borrowers.

Despite the global economic downturn, which led to declining demand and prices for Uzbekistan’s exported goods, the economy has not shown any significant signs of deterioration thanks to the fiscal measures.

According to analysts, the Government effectively manages the finances, ensuring since 2005 a state budget surplus, while maintaining the level of public debt at low levels, despite large-scale counter-cyclical measures. GDP growth rose from 4.8 per cent on average in the first half of this decade to 9 percent in 2008 and 8.1 percent in 2009.

Experts of Moody's recognize that the regulatory measures of the Government of Uzbekistan are primarily long-term and do not constitute “extraordinary measures”. In this regard, according to their forecasts, long-term measures of the government’s support to banks limits the risk of “rapid withdrawal” of the state form the banking system, which is seen as a positive factor for the banking system.

The liquidity of most banks in Uzbekistan is considered as stable. Stress tests have demonstrated the unlikelihood of sudden fluctuations of liquidity, and in the near future, analysts of Moody's do not expect any significant liquidity risks for Uzbek banks. Liquidity of banks of Uzbekistan does not depend on the state of liquidity in global financial markets.

Navoi FIEZ capable of turning Central Asia into a new global center of development

Andreas Andrianopulos, Director of Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs under Greece’s American College, has studied the effects of socio-economic progress achieved by Uzbekistan for post-independence years.

“Since Uzbekistan gained independence, it has made a big leap forward in all areas. Even given the crisis financial year, the country showed a significant budget surplus. This is a result of the deeply thought-out policy, which provided timely protection from the negative effects of the international economy crisis. Uzbekistan managed to change the economy so that the country has not been dependent on only one sphere of the market,” Andreas Andrianopulos noted.

The diplomat added that “the economic policies pursued by the Government of the country, is worth of admire, and could serve as a model for other countries with economies in transition. Regarding the project on the development of Navoi free industrial and economic zone, I would like to emphasize that the implementation of this program will lead to the fact that Uzbekistan will be a final destination of investments into high technology. This project is able to transform a vast region of Central Asia in the new global development center”.

According to the expert, the country also made significant progress in democracy and developing electoral system. In particular, he said: “I personally watched the last two electoral processes (presidential and parliamentary elections) and saw that elections were conducted according to international standards and requirements of the national legislation, based on principles of openness, publicity and objectiveness. Undoubtedly, much remains to be done. But judging from how the country has begun and at what level it is now, we understand that steps made towards development are truly tremendous”.

Noting the role of Uzbekistan in maintaining political stability and sustainable development in the region, the expert stressed that “the initiative for the resumption of the 6+2 Contact Group in the 6+3 format to resolve the situation in Afghanistan will lead to a lessening of mutual suspicions among the existing parties and also bring together the interested forces.”

Andreas Andrianopulos paid attention to activity to restore historical and cultural heritage implemented in the country, which he considers is important not only for Uzbekistan but also for the Greek people, as the territory of Uzbekistan were found traces of the ancient Greek culture.

In this regard, he noted: “Both countries have much in common with ancient times and have close cultural ties.

Information Technologies: New Ideas and Advancement Prospects

400 delegates at a general meeting will share experience in introducing IT

Representatives of the United Kingdom, Germany, Hong Kong, India, United States, Korea, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Russia, Finland, the Czech Republic and Japan will meet next week in Tashkent for a National Summit on Information and Communication Technologies, ICT Summit 2010.

Today in Uzbekistan carried out large-scale reforms in information and communication technologies and the confirmation of the fact is a Program of Computerization and ICT for 2002-2010, which reflects issues of formation of information space in the country.

The Uzbek capital already eight times venue for the ICT Summit has become a meeting place for IT professionals who, during professional forums, discuss the latest achievements and developments in information and communication technologies.

It was organized by the Coordination Council for Development of Computerization and ICT, the Committee on Press and Information Technologies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan, the Uzbek Agency of Communication and Information, the United Nations Development Program in Uzbekistan, represented by the Project “Assisting the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan in formulation and implementation of ICT for development of the country” and the Association of IT companies and organizations of Uzbekistan.
The summit, along with other events held in the “Week of information and communication technologies – INFOCOM”, will be aimed at improving the industry and will be of interest both for ICT specialists and many users.

As noted by hosts, the ICT Summit, being a platform for discussing solutions and applications, new ideas and perspectives of ICT development, is a kind of “intellectual” component of the ICT Week, and an exhibition ICTExpo 2010 will be a practical demonstration part of the week.

SOCIETY

Fostering the Learning Process

South Korea’s POSCO Engineering and Construction Company has provided a grant assistance for the development of educational process and strengthening the logistical base of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (UWED) in Tashkent.

A signing of the agreement on provision of a free financial aid took place in the building of the University’s Electronic library, which was also equipped with technical support from South Korean partners.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Chang Yong Kim, Vice-President of POSCO Engineering and Construction said: “We observe with a great interest fundamental changes that are taking place in Uzbekistan, including in education and upbringing of the younger generation. A Grant for development of UWED is another confirmation of our respect and mutual trust to your country”.

The management of the University, expressing gratitude for the assistance, noted that this action will further strengthen the friendly relations between Uzbekistan and Korea, and will also help to establish closer cooperation in education between countries.

Judoist Rishod Sobirov becomes world champion

After winning the gold medal in judo world championship in Tokyo, Uzbek athlete Rishod Sobirov contributed to the fact that the national team of Uzbekistan got place in the team event among the five strongest.
Upon arrival, the athletes were met with the representatives of relevant ministries and departments, sports public, media and sports fans at the Tashkent International Airport.

848 judoist men and women from 111 countries competed at the championship in Tokyo for 16 sets of medals and rating points, to qualify to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Only the athletes from six counties – Uzbekistan, Japan, France, Greece, South Korea and USA – won the gold medals in the World Cup.

In the weight category of 60 kg, Rishad Sabirov won Yanislav Gerchev from Bulgaria, Zhang Ming Jin from South Korea, Ali Khosrav and Elio Verde from Yemen and Beslan Mudranov from Russia. In the final meeting the Uzbek wrestler defeated the reigning world champion Georgiy Zantariya from Ukraine and was awarded the honorary title of the world champion.

“I was very proud to rise to the top of the podium and see the flag of Uzbekistan raised and our national anthem heard in honour of my victory,” said the world champion Rishod Sobirov. “The high achievements of our athletes in the international arena are the result of President Islam Karimov’s sustained attention towards raising physically and spiritually developed generation in our country.”

Rishod Sobirov is a winner of Asian Championship among Youth of 2006. A year later he won the second place in the championship of the continent among adults. He also won gold medals on Kurash and Judo at the
Tashkent University Games in 2007 and the Andijan Universiade in 2010.

Having won the bronze medal of Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, Rishod entered into a series of strongest judo athletes of the world. In 2009 he won the first place at the Grand Prix tournament in Germany and third place in the competitions in the UAE. And this season, he won the first place in the world ranking by winning the gold medal at World Master tournament in South Korea and Grand Prix competitions in Tunisia, as well as one gold and two silver medals at the Grand Slam in Russia, France and Brazil.

According to the rules of the International Judo Federation, judoka should gain rating points within four years to participate in the London Olympic Games. The victory in the World Cup strengthened Rishod’s position, who now occupies the first place in his weight category.