Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 22 May, Deputy Prime Minister Aziz Abdukhakimov held a meeting with renowned American economist Jeffrey David Sachs, a professor at Columbia University.

Jeffrey Sachs is director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, and special advisor to the UN Secretary-General on Sustainable Development Goals (www.jeffsachs.org).

The meeting was also attended by UN Resident Coordinator for Uzbekistan Helena Fraser and Head of UNICEF Uzbekistan Sasha Graumann.

The sides discussed the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, scenarios of social development of Uzbekistan, projects in the field of social protection, education and health, cooperation in attracting foreign researchers and lecturers to Uzbek universities, a number of other promising projects, including the creation of the Institute of Economic and Social Research under the patronage of the most famous economists.

Time magazine twice included Jeffrey Sachs among the 100 most influential world leaders and called him “the most famous economist in the world.” The New York Times called him “the most important economist in the world,” and according to The Economist magazine, he is among the three most influential economists of the past decade.