BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 1
By Fakhri Vakilov – Trend:
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade have reached an agreement to jointly promote an initiative to modernize and operate low-voltage power transmission networks based on Public-Private Partnerships mechanisms, Trend reports citing the Ministry.
The ADB management expressed its readiness to allocate grant funds to finance the involvement of international consultants for the development of tender and project documentation, as well as to provide technical assistance in the implementation of projects in the electricity sector.
This agreement was reached at a meeting on August 31, 2021, between Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov and Vice-President for Private Sector Operations and Public-Private Partnerships of ADB, Ashok Lavasa, who arrived in Uzbekistan to participate in the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank. This trip is the first overseas visit by ADB leadership since the start of the pandemic.
During the meeting, the current state and prospects for expanding bilateral cooperation between Uzbekistan and ADB were discussed.
The ADB management announced that Uzbekistan currently has ample opportunities to expand the presence of the private sector in various industries. In this regard, the issues of a radical expansion of attracting private and foreign investment in the modernization of basic and social infrastructure by mobilizing a wide range of market instruments, including green and infrastructure bonds, ADB guarantees in favor of investors, as well as financing instruments in national currency, were discussed.
In particular, the prospects for the implementation of projects on the basis of public-private partnerships in the fields of energy, healthcare, preschool education, as well as in the field of solid waste processing were considered.
Following the meeting, the parties outlined further steps for interaction within the framework of existing and new areas of cooperation.
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