Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 8 February, at the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov, an expanded meeting of the Government Commission on Export and Investment Development was held, dedicated to priority measures to implement priority tasks in areas of investment and foreign trade, set in 2021, as well as a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on investment, export support and foreign economic relations, during which measures were discussed to strengthen the executive discipline of responsible leaders.

The events were attended by the leadership of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction, the Ministry of Transport, specialized departments, industry unions and associations of domestic producers, large backbone enterprises and commercial banks, as well as the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic Uzbekistan. Deputy khokims of regions and Tashkent city for investment and foreign trade, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, as well as heads of banking institutions in the regions participated in the events via videoconferencing.

The priority areas of development outlined by the Head of State in the Address to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan were comprehensively discussed: employment and use of the potential of youth, innovative development of economic sectors, transformation of a number of industrial sectors into “drivers of economic growth”, expansion of production value chains, increasing exports, and also strengthening and expanding bilateral and multilateral ties with the countries of near and far abroad.

It was noted that the country’s leadership this year set tasks for the development of US$23 billion of investments, the implementation and commissioning of 226 large and economically significant investment projects with a total value of US$6.5 billion, as well as the implementation of more than 7 thousand investment projects worth 94.6 trillion soums within the framework of regional investment programs. In order to ensure high-quality and timely implementation of these tasks, the responsible managers were given instructions to organize work and assign employees of all levels to each district, city and makhallas of the Republic with the development of schedules for visits to supervised areas and the establishment of a system of constant monitoring of their activities.

Instructions are given to revise the principles of investment policy in a number of industries, bearing in mind a deep analysis of the location of sites for the implementation of projects, taking into account the availability of raw materials, demand for finished products in the domestic and foreign markets and logistical interconnection with enterprises of related industries involved in the respective value chains , as well as the creation of a multi-stage mechanism for the study and selection of projects based on the criteria of economic efficiency.

The issues of foreign trade were considered separately - it was noted that in 2021 the goal was set to increase the volume of domestic exports to US$17 billion with a growth of 20% compared to the same indicator last year. In this regard, instructions were given to improve the efficiency of the Republican headquarters for supporting exporters by establishing direct interaction with each enterprise, promptly identifying existing problems and implementing effective measures to resolve them.

Also, tasks were set to identify additional unused export reserves and introduce advanced technologies in promising areas of agriculture and industry, which will increase the competitiveness of domestic products and strengthen the position of Uzbek manufacturers in foreign markets. In this context, the activities of the diplomatic missions of the Republic of Uzbekistan abroad were considered in a critical way, and the need for their deeper involvement in conducting effective economic diplomacy and providing practical assistance to domestic exporters in promoting their products of Uzbek production in foreign markets was noted.

A number of other issues related to the expansion of international investment and trade and economic cooperation and the implementation of agreements with individual partner countries, projects carried out with the attraction of funds from international financial institutions, attracting investments within the framework of the program for the privatization of state assets, the activities of the Project Factory "And holding a number of events, such as an exhibition of national manufacturers" Made in Uzbekistan "in a number of foreign countries, organizing and holding in Tashkent the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank Group, the Tashkent International Investment Forum, a meeting of the Council of Foreign Investors under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan , the activities of the Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Human Security for the Aral Sea region and other tasks.

The current state of the performing discipline and practical measures to strengthen it were discussed separately. The state of execution of decrees and decrees of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, decisions of the Government and other regulatory legal acts was critically examined.

During the discussion, the heads of ministries, departments, industry associations, commercial banks and local authorities were given targeted instructions to eliminate existing shortcomings and increase the personal responsibility of senior and middle managers for the high-quality and timely execution of orders from the Head of State and Government.

As a result of the meeting, additional instructions were given to organize work to strengthen executive discipline, improve activities for the preparation of draft government decisions and regulatory legal acts, as well as increase the efficiency of fulfilling assigned tasks.