Uzbek President awarded the President of ADB

Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Feb. 17 / Trend D. Azizov /

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov on Thursday received the president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Haruhiko Kuroda, National News Agency of the Uzbekistan (UzA) reported.

"ADB is considered as one of the most authoritative and influential international financial institutions with which Uzbekistan is linked long-term and reliable partnership", said Islam Karimov.

It was reported that since the entry of Uzbekistan as a member of ADB in 1995, the Bank approved loans 35 joint projects total project value of over $ 8.6 billion with a share of ADB financing - more than 3.8 billion dollars.

Cooperation between Uzbekistan and the ADB include such areas as support for the reform of education and health services, the modernization of power generating facilities and energy infrastructure, rail and road infrastructure, utilities, structural transformation of the agricultural sector, financial sector development, and others.

In this special place in the partnership between Uzbekistan and the Asian Development Bank is co-operation in education reform, in which eight joint projects are implemented on the total amount of approximately $ 300 million.

Annual growth in ADB operations in Uzbekistan in recent years has reached one billion dollars. It was reported that during the current visit of the President of ADB signed loan agreements totaling 508 million dollars in four projects worth nearly 950 million dollars.

Of great importance is the decision taken by the ADB's participation in the financing of the construction project at MCC Ustyurt Surgil deposit with a total volume of loans and guarantees in the amount of $ 400 million.
Support from the ADB that has no analogues in the CIS project has an important role as a catalyst to attract foreign direct investment and loans, the president said.

Uzbekistan and ADB are actively cooperating to address critical regional issues, which resulted in the commissioning of the power lines, providing an uninterrupted supply of 1.2 billion kilowatt / hours of electricity a year from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan, as well as the completion of the first in the history of Afghanistan, the railroad, which connected Afghan cities Hairatan and Mazar-e Sharif.

A new area of ​​cooperation between Uzbekistan and the ADB has been the development of alternative energy sources. The initiative on solar energy, advanced by the President of ADB, reached an agreement to establish an international research institute of solar energy.

For significant contributions to the development of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the ADB, active assistance in the implementation of socio-economic reforms, the expansion and strengthening of regional partnerships, President Islam Karimov gave the head of the ADB Haruhiko Kuroda highest state award - the Order "Buyuk Hizmatlari uchun" (For great merits).

ADB President expressed his appreciation for the attention and interest of the ADB said in expanding the scope of cooperation with Uzbekistan.

The two sides exchanged views on the current state of bilateral cooperation, identified priority areas for further development of partnerships and discuss the deepening of regional cooperation in Central Asia.