Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.28
By Nigar Guliyeva – Trend:
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved a new system of organization of work and control in the sphere of development and diversification of exports, the press service of the president said in a message.
This was announced at a video-conference chaired by the president, devoted to the analysis of the fulfillment of the tasks set for increasing exports and reducing imports.
Thus, from now on a group led by Deputy Prime Minister Nodir Otazhonov and First Deputy Prosecutor General Erkaboy Tadjiev will be responsible for organizing and monitoring exports. The governors of the regions and the first deputies of regional prosecutors will be engaged in the export control on the local level.
In addition, a republican working group will be set up to organize and monitor work to reduce imports. The head of the Department for Combating Tax, Currency Crimes and Legalization of Criminal Incomes at the Prosecutor General's Office, Akmalhuzha Mavlonov was appointed its head. Similar working groups, headed by the heads of territorial departments, will be organized in the regions.
The working groups will have to travel to places, work in close cooperation with exporters, provide them with real help in increasing exports and create "green corridors." They will assist farmers and the population in growing high-yield fruit and vegetable crops, organize work to provide them with seeds, cash, fertilizers and fuel.
Furthermore, the working groups will regularly analyze the structure of imports, provide full assistance in the implementation of specific projects for the development of domestic production. Ministers and industry leaders will now organize their work in the same order.
The work on exports and imports will be discussed twice a week under the leadership of the Prime Minister and the Attorney General.
Uzbekistan also intends to launch the national electronic trading platform, which allows the sale of goods of domestic exporting enterprises to foreign buyers.
The new site should be launched from Jan.1, 2019. The strategic partner in this project will be South Korea.
The foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan in January 2018 amounted to about $1.8 billion, including exports at the level of about $0.7 billion and imports - $1.1 billion.
Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover in 2017 increased by 11.3 percent compared to 2016 and amounted to $26.962 billion.
The volume of exports from Uzbekistan increased by 15.4 percent to $ 13.954 billion by the end of 2017, import - to $ 13.008 billion.
The main foreign trade partners of the country are China (18.4 percent in total commodity turnover), Russia (18.1 percent), Kazakhstan (7.7 percent), Turkey (5.7 percent) and South Korea (5 percent).
The official exchange rate for Feb. 28 is 8171.64 UZS / USD.