July 05, 2007
Politics:
President Islam Karimov received the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Sergey Ivanov
President receives delegation of Arab Coordination Group
Implementation of "Year of Social Protection" Programme discussed
Economics:
Iranian businessmen visit Tashkent
Eurasia TAPO Disc JV exports high quality auto wheels
Society:
Friedensdorf International works with patients and doctors from Uzbekistan
UNDP supports improvement of teaching methods at UWED
Lawyers discuss improving access to justice in civil procedure
Uzbekistan defeat Iraq
POLITICS
PRESIDENT ISLAM KARIMOV RECEIVED THE FIRST DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF RUSSIA SERGEY IVANOV
The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov received the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Ivanov at Oqsaroy residence in Tashkent on July 4, UzA reported.
Uzbek and Russian leaders – Islam Karimov and Vladimir Putin – signed the agreement on strategic partnership in 2004 and the agreement on allied relations in 2005. These documents serve as a solid legal basis for the development of all-round mutually beneficial cooperation between the two states.
Today the Uzbek-Russian relations are developing dynamically in all spheres. In particular, the volume of mutual commodity turnover grew by 42% and exceeded US$3 billion in 2006. The structure of exports and imports has expanded, and their volumes are growing. Last year Russia purchased over 1 million tonnes of agricultural products from Uzbekistan, which is 3 times more compared to 2005.
The trade and economic cooperation is developing in the spheres of mechanical engineering, wood processing industry, agriculture, power engineering, electrical engineering and pharmaceutics. Among the priority spheres of cooperation are oil-and-gas, mining, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. Besides, there are perspectives in such fields, as telecommunications and software, production of building materials, chemical and textile industries, as well as tourism.
Investment cooperation is enhancing too. Currently, there are more than 450 joint ventures in Uzbekistan with participation of Russian investments, and nearly 300 enterprises with Uzbek capital are operating in Russia.
Cooperation is developing in military-technical spheres as well. Such interaction envisages supplies of military products, update of defense technology, staff training, carrying out joint exercises, drawing up interstate programmes on space exploration.
It should be noted that in connection with activation in the recent times of bilateral economic cooperation and in order to improve the activity of Uzbek-Russian intergovernmental joint commission on trade and economic cooperation, the presidents of the two states have agreed to raise the status of this body. During the recent informal CIS summit in Saint Petersburg Vladimir Putin informed that the First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov would be the co-chairman of this commission from the Russian side.
"This decision of the Russian leader is the evidence that Russia attaches great importance to the relations with Uzbekistan and strives for increase of cooperation rates," said President Islam Karimov during the meeting. "The Uzbek-Russian relations are developing intensively, the ties are based on mutual trust and the cooperation has great perspectives. The structure of your delegation also shows the desire of Russia to develop interaction with Uzbekistan. We believe that the negotiations held in Tashkent will be fruitful".
Sergey Ivanov noted that Russia considered Uzbekistan as one of its important partners in Central Asia, and main goal of the visit is consideration of new opportunities of further development of mutually beneficial ties. In particular, he emphasized that the sides had vast potential for further expansion of scientific-practical cooperation in the field of high-tech.
PRESIDENT RECEIVES DELEGATION OF ARAB COORDINATION GROUP
On July 3, President Islam Karimov received the delegation of Arab Coordination Group led by the President of The Islamic Development Bank Ahmad Muhammad Ali.
"We appreciate coopearation with financial institutions of Arab world ," said Islam Karimov.
Arab Coordination Group includes the Islamic Development Bank, the Saudi Fund for Development, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.
The representatives of the Arab Coordination Group appraised highly the course and results of socioeconomic reforms pursued in Uzbekistan and supported the reforms carried out under the direction of the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.
During the meeting the sides determined further directions of joint cooperation and priority projects implementation of which should assist and enhance the high rates of reforms in Uzbekistan.
The sides defined perspective directions of collaboration in social sphere, agriculture and industry and noted the importance of projects in the field of education, healthcare, municipal services and support of private farms, chemical and metallurgical industries, power engineering and building materials production.
Vice-President of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Liqun Jin accompanied the delegation of Arab Coordination Group.
During the meeting there was an exchange of opinions concerning bilateral relations, execution of joint projects and the search for new projects.
IMPLEMENTATION OF "YEAR OF SOCIAL PROTECTION" PROGRAMME DISCUSSED
The Oliy Majlis (parliament) Committee for Information and Communication Technologies under the Parliament's Legislative Chamber held its meeting where it dealt with the questions concerning the coverage of the "Year of Social Protection" State Programme in mass media, Uzbekistan Today reported.
The roundtable event chaired by the head of the committee Kh.Dostmuhammedov drew notably high evaluation and significance of the "Year of Social Protection" State Programme in all branches of the local media.
The meeting also focused on the importance attached to the all around participation of country's leading media entities in the process of the Programme's realization and the measures being taken for the provision of its efficiency.
The country wide coverage and the execution of all the deeds in a bid to supervise the effective realization of the State Programme on the "Year of Social Protection" are marked as leading priority tasks assigned to all the corresponding bodies with a direct link to the socio-public reforms.
Within their reports, the representatives of both the republican newspapers and the public funds drew the attention of the gathered to the huge spectrum of social and political significance attached to the "Year of Social Protection" State Programme and its actuality as well as the specific features with respect to its efficient coverage in the media.
During the meeting, professionals from a very wide range of ministries, state bodies, editors-in-chiefs of local newspapers and those of regional publications expressed their opinions as to how to improve and monitor the course of the Programme's coverage throughout the country.
ECONOMICS
IRANIAN BUSINESSMEN VISIT TASHKENT
To further develop the economic and trade cooperation between the Uzbek and Iranian business circles, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Uzbekistan and the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tashkent have organized the visit of the delegation of the Mazandaran province (Iran) to Uzbekistan on July 2-9, 2007.
The purpose of the visit is the establishment of direct contacts between the Uzbek and Iranian entrepreneurs, examination of the possibilities of establishing joint ventures and implementing investment projects.
The delegation includes business leaders and managers of about 20 largest companies of the Mazandaran province operating in the agricultural, construction materials production, plastics production, trade, and other sectors.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is among Uzbekistan's 10 largest trade partners. In 2006, the volume of bilateral trade between the two countries exceeded US$658.5 million. The bilateral trade balanced with the surplus of US$582.7 million for Uzbekistan (export – US$620.6 million, import – US$37.9 million). The total of 89 Uzbek-Iranian joint ventures, including 23 enterprises with 100% Iranian capital operate on the territory of Uzbekistan. They are mainly engaged in the production of consumer goods, textiles, agricultural products, construction materials, carpets, etc.
On July 4, a cooperation exchange and an Uzbek-Iranian Business Forum was held in Tashkent. The representatives of the business circles of both countries discussed the prospects of trade and economic cooperation and exchanged opinions on their positions regarding the creation of favourable conditions for further expansion of business contacts. The businessmen of the two countries discussed the prospects of cooperation between individual enterprises and the of the attraction of foreign investments for the establishment of joint ventures in Uzbekistan.
The programme of the visit envisages further meetings at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investment and Trade, and the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Uzbekistan. The delegation will also visit a number of farming businesses and other enterprises in Tashkent.
EURASIA TAPO DISC JV EXPORTS HIGH QUALITY AUTO WHEELS
Ferghana based Eurasia TAPO Disc Uzbek-British JV manufactures high quality auto wheels. The company's products have found a market not only in Uzbekistan, but also abroad. Six years ago, when the production was launched, the enterprise produced only four types of products.
Thanks to modern technology and equipment, the JV now produces over 50 types of products. The company's main customers are UzDaewooAuto, as well as car producers in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and other countries.
Last year, Eurasia TAPO Disc produced over a million wheels. The company's net profits exceeded 340 million soums. This year it has already manufactured over 500,000 auto wheels.
The company employs about 560 young workers. It has recently launched a molding shop, which allows it to manufacture wheels of customized shapes.
SOCIETY
FRIEDENSDORF INTERNATIONAL WORKS WITH PATIENTS AND DOCTORS FROM UZBEKISTAN
The representatives Friedensdorf International of Germany have held a medical examination of children who need a medical treatment in Kashkadarya Province of Uzbekistan.
Organization carries out charitable actions aimed at treatment and rehabilitation of children in more than 20 countries all over the world. In Uzbekistan it implements joint projects with the Ministry of Healthcare and “Soglom avlod uchun” International Charitable Fund. The sides pay a special attention to improving the health of mothers and children, as well as providing children from neediest layers of population with medical and social support.
In Kashkadarya German doctors have held a medical examinations at the Kashkadarya regional children’s hospital and shared their experience with regard providing the necessary treatment for the children, including those with physical defects and needing the surgical operations.
UNDP SUPPORTS IMPROVEMENT OF TEACHING METHODS AT UWED
UNDP Country Office in Uzbekistan supported improvement of teaching methods and techniques of the junior faculty members of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (UWED).
Specialists of Westminster International University in Tashkent carried out training sessions for the junior faculty members of the UWED in May-June and they focused on the introduction of new teaching methods and techniques as well as presentation skills.
Representatives of UWED's Departments of International Economic Relations, International Relations and International Law participated at the trainings. They have learned and discussed in length the new methods and tools, such as interactive techniques, employed internationally for lecturing and counseling students.
Training participants also attended some classes at the Westminster International University to acquaint with these methods and techniques in practice. Upon completion of the trainings, participants developed and presented projects, which showed practical application of their newly obtained skills.
Nargis Muminova, UWED's lecturer on Political Problems of International Systems and Global Development said: "The trainings helped us and let us to identify the potential and areas of improving further content and quality of our lectures and seminars". Another participant, Aziz Bakhadyrov of the Department of International Law added:" We are going to disseminate as widely as possible our new knowledge among colleagues at the UWED".
UNDP's project "Enhancing the Capacity of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy to Support the Foreign Policy of Uzbekistan" helped to conduct these trainings. The project aimed at strengthening the capacity of the UWED to support the development and implementation of the foreign policy of Uzbekistan through the training of highly qualified specialists, one of the main areas of the project activities is revision of existing and development of new courses for bringing the UWED curriculum in line with international standards in education for the ensuing career in foreign service.
LAWYERS DISCUSS IMPROVING ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN CIVIL PROCEDURE
UNDP Country Office in Uzbekistan assisted Uzbekistan Bar Association and GTZ (German Technical Cooperation Society) to organize a meeting to discuss issues on civic and corporate legislation.
Uzbek advocates and German experts, professors of Bremen University Rolf Knipper and Lado Chanturiya, participated in the work of roundtable, which took place on July 3-4 in Tashkent. The participants considered issues on civil code, property right, status of legal entities in civil code, legislation on joint stock companies and others.
The event was supported by UNDP's "Development of Capacities of the National Human Rights Institutions in Uzbekistan". The main objective of the project is to strengthen capacities of the national human rights institutions and relevant bodies to effectively fulfil their mandates for promotion and protection of human rights in Uzbekistan.
The project focuses primarily on activities relating to human rights matters that form part of the mandate and day-to-day work of operational national human rights institutions, which would consequently improve the promotion and protection of human rights.
Evgeniy Abdullaev, Programme Legal Specialist of UNDP Uzbekistan, said "This meeting allowed to discuss actual issues of civil law and I hope it will serve as platform to develop recommendations on their improvement.
UZBEKISTAN DEFEAT IRAQ
Uzbekistan played AFC Asian Cup warm-up games in style with a confident 2-0 victory over Iraq on July 2, 2007.
Despite of injuries to key players, Uzbekistan’s preparations for the AFC Asian Cup started to look up with an impressive win.
Uzbekistan controlled the opening period and in third minute Khikmat Khashimov found Aziz Ibragimov in the Iraqi penalty area and Aziz broke the deadlock.
Second goal came from Ulugbek Bakaev when he blasted well wide on the edge of the Iraqi goal.
The team departed for a training camp in Korea in last days of June, two days after the Uzbek National Championship took a break at its midway point.
Uzbekistan is scheduled to meet Korea Republic in an international friendly in Seoul on July 5 before moving on to Kuala Lumpur, where it will take on Iran, China and co-hosts Malaysia in the Group C of the Asian Cup.
The majority of Rauf Inileyev’s squad are from the Uzbekistan National Championship top two sides with reigning champions Pakhtakor supplying eight players including midfielder Server Djeparov and Neftchi providing three.
Dynamo Kiev striker Maksim Shatskikh, Vitaliy Denisov of Ukranian side Dnipro and Alexey Nikolaev of Kazakhstan’s Aktobe, midfielders Aziz Ibragimov of Slovakia’s Slovan Bratislava and Marat Bikmaev of Russian side Rubin Kazan, and forwards Ulugbek Bakaev of Tobol of Kazakhstan and Pavel Solomin of Saturn Moscow Oblast are also in the 23-man squad for the Asian Cup.