Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 19 June, a Working Group, headed by Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov, and composed of heads of relevant ministries, departments, industry associations and commercial banks, as well as representatives of government bodies on the ground, summed up the results of a week-long work on a comprehensive study of the economic potential of the Republic of Karakalpakstan in the context of industries, regions and cities, an inventory of the regional investment program and the development of proposals for enhancing investment activities.

The key task of the Working Group is to ensure maximum economic efficiency of attracted investments, bearing in mind production growth in priority industries and agriculture, increasing export potential by increasing the production and supply of high value-added products that are in demand in export markets, as well as providing employment for broad strata of the population.

To this end, the responsible managers were entrusted with a radical review of the methodology for developing investment projects. The basis for determining promising areas of investment activity should be a thorough analysis of the resources and infrastructure available in a particular area, based on the results of which "growth points" or "drivers" of development of each district (city) will be determined.

Further, in the framework of the identified areas, the target parameters of production and export are determined, the existing problems that could hinder their achievement are identified, and algorithms for their solution are developed.

This approach made it possible to objectively assess the profitability and economic return on the implementation of investment projects and increase the impact of investment activities on the dynamics of the socio-economic development of the region and ensuring the growth of welfare of the population.

Based on the results of the work of the Working Group, a preliminary package of 1280 investment projects was formed for a total amount of 9.8 trillion soums, of which 707 projects worth 5.0 trillion soums will be implemented before the end of this year. In general, the implementation of this package of projects will create more than 17 thousand jobs in the region by the end of this year.

Special attention was paid to ensuring employment by establishing cooperative ties with manufacturing enterprises and creating opportunities for organizing home-based labor in industries such as beekeeping, animal husbandry, poultry farming, silkworm production, and the production of knitwear and clothing. In this direction, 120 investment projects worth 128 billion soums were developed.

Specific features of the new approach were discussed in detail with the leaders of industries, commercial banks and local authorities on the example of investment projects developed and proposed for implementation, their advantages and disadvantages were comprehensively studied, and instructions were given to review individual projects and consider alternative investment initiatives. The new methodology is planned to be applied on a systematic basis in other regions of the Republic.

Based on the results of the work of the Working Group, the respective heads of ministries, departments, sectoral economic associations and local authorities were given specific instructions for the speedy implementation of the proposals for the development of the region and new investment projects with the approval of network schedules for their implementation, containing information on specific activities to be completed, deadlines implementation, as well as the agencies responsible for their implementation. Measures have been taken to create mechanisms for effective monitoring of the progress of each project and to support regional business entities.