October 17, 2008
Politics:
Legislative Chamber holds session
Economics:
14th Tashkent tourism fair starts
Meeting of business circles of Uzbekistan and Austria
Contracts for sale of 950,000 tons of cotton sealed
New Uzbek-Russian textile company set up in central region
Uzbekneftegaz, CNPC create new venture to develop deposit in Namangan region
Society:
SISF holds action to promote healthy life style among youth
OSCE hosts discussion in Uzbekistan on elections and the political culture of electorate
UWED Legal Clinic helps to raise legal awareness among children
Five Uzbek specialists receive Uzbekistan Computer Driving License
POLICY
LEGISLATIVE CHAMBER HOLDS SESSION
Legislative Chamber (lower house) of the Oliy Majlis (parliament) of Uzbekistan held a session on October 16. Speaker of the chamber Dilorom Tashmuhamedova chaired the session, UzA reported.
MPs discussed a draft law "On introduction of changes and amendments to the Law of Uzbekistan "On publishing activity" in the second reading.
The law is directed to further improvement of regulation in publishing activity and clarify some norms, as well as harmonize national legislation with international standards.
The law was approved in the second reading, but it was noted that it should be directed for further improvement.
MPs also approved a draft law "On obligatory insurance of the civil rights of employer". They noted that it is necessary to create reliable legal base in obligatory insurance of the civil rights of employers to compensate damage to health and life of employee during work time.
Parliamentarians also approved a draft law "On introduction of changes to Regulation on class ranks of court workers, approved by the resolution of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan from 14 December 2000".
MPs passed a draft law "On collector activity" in the first reading, which is directed to create necessary conditions for formation and development of market mechanisms for restructuring debts.
A draft law "On introduction of changes and amendments to the Law of Uzbekistan "On standardization" was also passed in the first reading.
Parliamentarians considered activity of the Committee on defence and security issues of the Legislative Chamber for 2005-2007. MPs noted that the committee should improve law making and supervision efficiency. The corresponding resolutions have been adopted on the issue.
ECONOMY
14TH TASHKENT TOURISM FAIR STARTS
The 14th international Tashkent tourism fair “Tourism on the Great Silk Road” started on 16 October in the capital of Uzbekistan.
The event, organized by the Uzbektourism national company, attracted representatives of the local and foreign tourist companies, hotels, restaurants, museums, diplomatic missions and other structures.
The main purpose of the exhibition is familiarizing the visitors with the high tourist potential of the country and expansion of cooperation with foreign tourist companies.
The fair, held regularly since 1995, has attracted more than 100 companies from 23 countries, including Russia, Spain, Greece, Latvia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, South Korea, Ukraine, Vietnam, Azerbaijan and Central Asian states.
The forum visitors can get acquainted with the activities of the tourism operators, transport companies, insurance and banking services, ecological and sports tourism.
In the framework of the two-day fair, its participants will be able to discuss joint projects and sign cooperation agreements.
MEETING OF BUSINESS CIRCLES OF UZBEKISTAN AND AUSTRIA
On October 15, the cooperation exchange started in the city business center, with the participation of representatives of business circles of Uzbekistan and Austria. The event was organized jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, “Uzinfoinvest” Agency and the Federal Chamber of Economy of Austria, UzA reported.
The forum was dedicated to expansion of bilateral trade and economic and investment cooperation. Companies and organizations of Uzbekistan, working in the fields oil and gas, energy, automotive, aircraft production, textiles and light industry, pharmaceutics, construction, agriculture and water management, food processing and chemical industries, transport and transport communications, tourism participated in the event. The Austrian delegation, headed by Vice-President of the Federal Chamber of Economy Richard Shenz, included representatives of companies such as BSH International (ventilation and fire-fighting technology), Emco Maier Gesselschaft (technologies for metal processing), Agrana Beteilgungs (food), Jet Alliance Holding (consulting services), Tiroler Roehren-UND Metallwerke (pipe production), SY-LAB Gerate (cosmetic and pharmaceutical products).
Cooperation of businesses entities of the two countries covers many areas – including production of porcelain and crystal products, cables and wires, metal, construction materials, electronics, food processing, lighting, communications, security, fire safety, furniture production, machinery, textiles, packaging, pharmaceuticals and food industry and consulting.
Currently, there are 20 joint ventures created with participation of Austrian investors in Uzbekistan, and 13 Austrian companies opened their offices in Uzbekistan. They work in areas such as pharmaceuticals, construction, footwear production, publishing and textiles industry.
CONTRACTS FOR SALE OF 950,000 TONS OF COTTON SEALED
Contracts for sale of more than 950,000 tons of cotton fiber were signed at the fourth international cotton fair held in Tashkent on 14-15 October, minister of foreign economic relations, investments and trade Elyor Ganiyev said. This year, fiber of about 20 sorts of cotton was put for sale at the fair.
According to experts, despite slowdown of cotton production and consumption in the world, this should not reduce the demand for Uzbek cotton, especially in Asia. The Uzbek cotton is currently delivered to China, South Korea, Bangladesh, Iran and other states of the region.
Editor in chief of the Cotton Bangladesh agency K.Ahsan said Uzbek cotton fiber accounts for 62% of the total cotton import of his country.
Y.Syudong, vice chairman of the Xinjang industrial and construction corp, said although China grows cotton, its volume is not enough to cover the needs of textile enterprises. “Participation in the Tashkent cotton fair allowed us to meet Uzbek colleagues and discuss joint marketing policies.”
The participants of the fair visited cotton processing plant in Yangiyul, cotton terminal Toshkent-tola and textile enterprise Muruxxat-tex. They also participated in the sessions of the Uzbek commodity exchange, which sells cotton fiber for export.
NEW UZBEK-RUSSIAN TEXTILE COMPANY SET UP IN CENTRAL REGION
The Uzbek-Russian joint venture Karmenta-Yan-Teks has been set up in the town of Yangiyer in central Syrdaryo Region, UzA reported.
Forty young people got full-time jobs at the company. The company's authorized fund is US$500,000.
"The joint venture's production capacity is 150,000 running metres of knitted fabric per day. The major part of the fabric made of natural yarn will be exported" the head of the joint venture, Akram Haydarov, said.
UZBEKNEFTEGAZ, CNPC CREATE NEW VENTURE TO DEVELOP DEPOSIT IN NAMANGAN REGION
Uzbekneftegaz national holding company and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a constituent agreement and charter of new joint venture Mingbulakneft, Uzreport Business Information Portal quoting the Uzbek company on October 16.
The new venture will be created for joint supplementary exploration and development of Mingbulak deposit in Namangan region. Uzbekneftegaz said Andijanneft open joint-stock company and China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation (CNODC) are founders of the venture. The sides will hold 50% share each in the venture. Earlier, Uzbekneftegaz and CNPC signed an agreement on main principles of cooperation on joint supplementary exploration and development of Mingbulak deposit in April 2007 and signed an agreement on main principles of the creation of the joint venture in May 2008.
SOCIETY
SISF HOLDS ACTION TO PROMOTE HEALTHY LIFE STYLE AMONG YOUTH
Social Initiatives Support Fund (SISF) initiated organization of action "We are for healthy life style, we do not have time to other things!" at the cooperation with the Center of Youth Initiatives Kelejak Ovozi, People Service International (PSI) and UNIADS, Uzreport Information Portal reported.
The action, organized for the second time, is aimed at attracting youth to healthy life style, improve knowledge on HIV and AIDS, protection of environment.
During the action, the youth participate in interactive communication, learn about threats of HIV and AIDS, get knowledge on healthy life style, negative affect of drug abuse, etc.
OSCE HOSTS DISCUSSION IN UZBEKISTAN ON ELECTIONS AND THE POLITICAL CULTURE OF ELECTORATE
Increasing the political culture of the electorate and perspectives for new democracies were among the topics discussed at a meeting in Tashkent on 15 October, OSCE said in a press release.
The two-day event, "Elections to Representative Bodies and the Issues of Increasing Political Culture of the Electorate", was organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, the Foundation of Regional Policy (Uzbekistan), the U.S. Agency for International Development and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.
It brought together some 70 experts and researchers from more than 20 countries and international organizations.
"We regard this discussion as part of the OSCE's continuous support to Uzbekistan's efforts to implement its OSCE commitments and to develop civil society for the sake of stable and consistent democratic transformations," said Ambassador Istvan Venczel, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan.
Participants discussed the role of elections to the representative bodies in fostering participatory democracy, challenges of public campaigning and improving voter education, and the role of governmental and non-governmental institutions in ensuring compliance with election legislation. They also spoke about the role of political parties, the media and civil society in increasing the political participation of citizens and the transparency of elections, as well as international standards in the field.
UWED LEGAL CLINIC HELPS TO RAISE LEGAL AWARENESS AMONG CHILDREN
Legal Clinic under the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (UWED) organized training on housing rights for children of SOS Children's Village in Tashkent. The training aimed at raising legal awareness and providing knowledge on housing law of the SOS Children's Village inhabitants.
The training was organized based on interest of children from the SOS Children's Village in improvement of their knowledge in legal sphere, including housing legislation. The staff of the SOS Children's Village said that it is important for children to know their rights in housing sphere as they leave orphanage and start their adult life.
About twenty children at the age of 13-17 from SOS Children's Village participated in the work of the training, which was one of the series of trainings conducted by Legal clinic at the Village and dedicated to the Year of Youth in Uzbekistan.
This training was organized within the UNDP project "Legal Aid and Legal Literacy for Better Access to Justice". The main objectives of the project are to improve access to justice for people who cannot afford or have limited access to legal services, such as women, children, the poor, the elderly and people with disabilities and to increase quality of legal services through training of law students.
FIVE UZBEK SPECIALISTS RECEIVE UZBEKISTAN COMPUTER DRIVING LICENSE
Five Uzbek specialists received the first Uzbekistan Computer Driving License (UzCDL) certificates on Tuesday, 14 October during the press conference dedicated to the national computer skills testing system.
IT Association of Uzbekistan at methodical and organization support of UNDP ICTP project is working on development of the UzCDL.
Within the project, the developers installed web-servers at Uz-Net Internet Service Provider and created a web-site of the project. They also developed a database with over 1,000 questions on computer use and tested them.
UCD Micros, Intelligence Solutions, NetDec and Center on training and support of young programmers currently are authorized center for conducting trainings and testing on the UzCDL.