Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — On 10 April, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, met with a delegation from the World Bank led by Managing Director for Operations, Anna Bjerde.

The meeting focused on further strengthening the strategic partnership between Uzbekistan and this international financial institution, particularly in the context of supporting the country’s ongoing economic reforms.

Anna Bjerde conveyed warm greetings and best wishes to the President of Uzbekistan on behalf of World Bank President Ajay Banga. It was emphasized that, in recent years, the partnership between Uzbekistan and the World Bank has reached a high level of productivity.

Uzbekistan is currently one of the World Bank’s largest partners, with a project portfolio exceeding US$12 billion. The Bank actively provides financial, advisory, and technical support for the implementation of reforms aimed at the sustainable development of key economic sectors and the social sphere.

With the support of the World Bank, a new mechanism has been introduced to improve the preparation of projects involving international financial institutions, as well as to enhance the quality and accelerate the implementation of such projects.

The key areas identified for future cooperation include poverty reduction—particularly through the creation of jobs for women and youth, including in the tourism sector—support for the private sector, development of public-private partnerships, and the transformation and privatization of state-owned enterprises.

Special attention was given to joint initiatives in the fields of decarbonization, urbanization, infrastructure modernization, energy efficiency, and improvement of the investment climate, as well as to facilitating Uzbekistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

The parties also exchanged views on major regional projects in which Uzbekistan and the World Bank intend to take an active role.