BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 13
By Fakhri Vakilov-Trend:
Uzbekistan’s Government expects to receive loans of Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support projects of mortgage lending and economic reforms worth $500 million by the end of the year, was stated at a meeting of Uzbekistan’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov with ADB President Takehiko Nakao on Nov. 13, Trend reports citing Ministry’s press service.
Nakao noted that the processes of accelerated transformation of Uzbekistan offer great opportunities both for the development of the country itself and for strengthening its position in the economic field of the region, and welcomed the systematization of cooperation enshrined in the country partnership strategy for 2019-2023. He emphasized that the mandatory factors of sustainable development are macroeconomic stability, the availability of infrastructure and qualified personnel.
Speaking about the long-term prospects of relations with Uzbekistan, the ADB president expressed his readiness to continue and expand the range of mutual initiatives in order to support the economic transformation in the country on an integrated basis by providing additional investment resources.
Furthermore, it was noted that the priority areas of the partnership - agriculture, health, education, water management and the financial sector - do not currently cover the existing potential, and therefore, a proposal was voiced to consider the possibilities for implementing new joint projects.
In June, ADB approved a new country partnership strategy for Uzbekistan for 2019–2023, which includes assistance in developing the private sector, rural areas, regional cooperation, and reducing economic and social inequalities.
Since 1995, ADB has provided Uzbekistan with more than $7 billion to implement nearly 70 projects in the fields of education, agriculture, modernization of transport infrastructure and the energy sector, as well as about $85 million of technical assistance grants.
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