Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a video conference was held on 24 June on the effectiveness of the work carried out in the fields of investment and export, as well as discussion of priority tasks for the period until the end of the year.

In our country, an active investment policy is being implemented in order to develop the economy and infrastructure, and finance important projects. Since the beginning of 2017, 716 trillion soums (US$83 billion) have been disbursed from all sources, which is more than twice as much as in the previous period. Of this, about US$27 billion were attracted from abroad.

Almost 65 percent of utilized investments are in industrial and infrastructure projects. As a result, over the past 4 years, the share of industry in the structure of the country’s GDP has grown from 25 to 33 percent, and the volume of industrial production has increased 1.3 times.

During this period, more than 47 thousand large, medium and small projects worth 441 trillion soums were launched, more than 680 thousand permanent jobs were created.

In addition, over the past 4 years, 100 trillion soums have been invested in the implementation of projects in the areas of local industry, agriculture and the provision of services.

At the meeting, the effectiveness of investments was deeply analyzed.

- Each attracted dollar should bring a positive result to our people, regions and industries. How many jobs can be created, how many exports can be carried out if the situation in the regions changed! Khokims who are not involved in investment and export have no future, said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

As the analysis shows, for each allocated billion soums, 12 new jobs were created in Namangan region, 11 in Andijan, and 8-9 new jobs in Navoi and Syrdarya regions. In Bukhara, Samarkand and Khorezm regions this figure was 6-7, and in Kashkadarya and Ferghana region - 5. In Karakalpakstan, Jizzakh, Surkhandarya and Tashkent regions, in the city of Tashkent - only 3-4 jobs.

Another example: in Tashkent region over the past four years, only 40,000 new jobs have been created with foreign investments and bank loans totaling US$950 million. The ratio is US$24,000 per job. At the same time, 52 thousand jobs were created in the Namangan region at half the amount.

It was also noted that more than 2 thousand enterprises operate with low capacity, and in some regions the volume of production has decreased.

The President stressed that the main task of the heads of industries and regions should be to increase investment activity and, at the same time, increase the efficiency of investments.

The Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade was instructed, together with the khokims of the regions, to identify untapped opportunities for industry in each district and city, as well as to develop targeted investment projects.

So, everywhere there is a huge demand for furniture and there are conditions for its production. The decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On measures aimed at the development of the furniture industry in the regions of the republic" from 21 June expanded opportunities in this direction. Nukus, Andijan, Altynkul, Romitan, Karshi, Karmana, Pastdargom, Uzun, Baghdad, Urtachirchik and Khanka districts, the cities of Jizzak, Karshi, Namangan and Yangiyer are specialized in the production of furniture. Small zones of the furniture industry will be organized there with the placement of 450 projects worth US$200 million and the creation of at least 7.5 thousand new jobs.

In addition, out of more than 5 thousand furniture enterprises in the country, 1.5 thousand operate as home workshops. Now they can go to the industrial level, produce more products and employ more workers.

Instructions were given on the implementation of similar projects in the leather and footwear, electrical, textile, pharmaceutical, jewelry, food and building materials industries.

It was noted that this year 112 projects worth US$202 million should be launched in the leather and footwear industry on time, 45 projects worth US$140 million in electrical engineering, and 36 projects worth US$146 million in the pharmaceutical industry.

Issues of efficient use of empty buildings were also discussed at the meeting.

In recent years, the activities of 11 thousand such facilities have been restored. In particular, a small industrial zone has been organized on the basis of the former Andijanmash enterprise, 24 new enterprises and more than a thousand jobs have been created. Another example is the Technopark in the city of Tashkent and the Mechanical Plant in Ferghana.

However, today another 19 thousand objects are idle and work with low utilization. Responsible persons were instructed to conduct a full inventory, create an electronic platform, and provide entrepreneurs with practical assistance in the implementation of projects.

This year, it is planned to launch 226 large sectoral and regional projects worth US$6.5 billion and create 35,000 new jobs. Their implementation was also reviewed at the meeting. Projects, the implementation of which is delayed, are indicated, measures for their timely launch are determined.

The need to improve the efficiency of projects with the participation of external government borrowings was emphasized. Instructions were given on ensuring the transparency of tenders, cost savings through project optimization.

Direct investment is of great importance. It is expected that this year, within the framework of 756 projects, US$7.7 billion will be spent in the form of foreign direct investment and unsecured loans.

The head of state instructed to attract these funds to industry and regional projects.

The meeting also reviewed the implementation of export forecast indicators. It was noted that it was important to fully use the opportunities in this area, to make up for the recession caused by the market situation, by exporting products from other industries and additional volume of goods.

At the video conference, Deputy Prime Ministers, heads of industries and regional khokims reported on the effectiveness of investments attracted over the past four years, as well as on measures to be taken in the future.