TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 13. A meeting of Uzbekistan's Senate Committee on International Relations, Foreign Economic Relations, Foreign Investment, and Tourism devoted to the results of activities for 2023 was held on January 11, Trend reports.
According to the information service of the upper house of Parliament, the meeting was attended by representatives of ministries and departments, public organizations, members of the expert council under the Committee, members of the youth parliament, and journalists.
In the reporting period, the Committee's activity was characterized by systematic work on improving the legal framework of foreign policy and foreign economic activity in Uzbekistan, further development of interparliamentary cooperation with parliaments of other states and international parliamentary organizations, as well as parliamentary control over the implementation of legislation.
In the sphere of legislative activity last year, 12 laws were considered and submitted to the plenary session of the Senate for discussion.
During the meeting of the Parliament's Senate Council, the results of the studies conducted on the effectiveness of special economic zones (SEZs) and the attraction of foreign investments in them were discussed.
A special "road map" aimed at eliminating the identified problems was adopted. As a result, some problems related to the allocation of necessary funds for the development of engineering and communication infrastructure in SEZs were eliminated, and matters related to the allocation of land for a number of investors were settled.
In addition, the information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was heard twice in 2023.
Pursuant to the instructions of the Senate, the domain "uztreaty.ijro.uz" of the electronic database designed for unified accounting, verification, and monitoring of international agreements of Uzbekistan and their implementation was launched.
A draft presidential decree on improving the procedure for preparing and holding bilateral and multilateral international events in Uzbekistan, as well as the procedure for visits by Uzbek representatives to foreign countries, has also been developed.
Monitoring the status of implementation of Uzbekistan's international human rights obligations was also an important aspect of the Committee's work. As a result of this work, assistance was provided in introducing a system of regular monitoring of the implementation of the National Human Rights Education Programme and in submitting proposals and recommendations to the relevant ministries and departments on the quality and timeliness of the implementation of measures.
The Committee also heard from a number of ministers and departments on the creation of new jobs through investment projects, the protection of the rights and interests of migrant workers, and the status of implementation of the Tourism Act in Surkhandarya province. As a result, relevant decisions of the Committee were adopted, containing recommendations to eliminate existing problems.
Furthermore, the members of the Committee held 97 meetings with foreign countries, international organizations, international financial structures, and business representatives, and the prospects of mutual practical cooperation were discussed. A total of 7 meetings of friendship groups with foreign parliaments were held.
The necessity to intensify the work to support the development of interregional and twinning ties with foreign countries and to expand interparliamentary cooperation to create additional guarantees and opportunities for domestic labor migrants in foreign countries was noted.