Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is chairing a meeting on the socioeconomic development of Kashkadarya Region. The president expressed satisfaction with his meeting with residents of Kashkadarya during the height of the harvest season.
The president congratulated participants on Uzbek Language Day and paid tribute to Abdulla Aripov, a native of Kashkadarya, Hero of Uzbekistan and author of the national anthem.
Kashkadarya, which was among the regions facing the most difficult conditions just a few years ago, is expected to become free of poverty and unemployment by the end of this year. The president said clear calculations were in place to achieve this goal.
“Yesterday, seeing the changes in the region’s cities, districts and mahallas, and the enthusiasm in the eyes of entrepreneurs, investors and young people, gave me an enormous boost of energy,” the president said.
Mirziyoyev said he had visited a modern energy- and water-efficient enterprise run by Nur bek Ergashev, head of the Sultonteks cluster. The entrepreneur’s plans to provide jobs for another 30,000 people by 2028 and create more opportunities, particularly for women, received support.
The president announced that he had signed a decree awarding Ergashev the honorary title of Honoured Entrepreneur of Uzbekistan.
Abdumannop Khudoyberdiyev will also receive the title of Honoured Agricultural Worker of Uzbekistan. He established a family school of lemon cultivation in Chim mahalla in Kamashi District and has contributed to increasing household incomes.
The work of Javlon Jovliyev, editor-in-chief of the Mutolaa project, was also recognised for his efforts to promote education and reading in Kashkadarya. It was announced that he and the winners of the national Young Reading Family competition, Bakhtishod Rashidov and E'zоза Khushvaktova, would receive new two-room apartments in Tashkent.
The president proposed presenting the awards on the spot.
During the first nine months of the year, industrial output in Kashkadarya grew by 8.4%, services by 16.6% and agriculture by 4.9%. However, the president noted that a substantial gap remained between the region’s current performance and its economic potential.
Kashkadarya ranks seventh nationally in industrial output per capita, ninth in services and 11th in agricultural output and construction. Mirziyoyev said that if district administrations and banks created an environment in which knowledge was rewarded, work was supported with opportunities and initiative received backing, Kashkadarya could become one of the country’s leading regions within one or two years.
The region has sufficient resources to take its industrial sector to a new level. Officials have been tasked with turning gas, electricity and mineral resources into jobs that generate income and products with high added value.
Three major projects worth US$300 million have been prepared at the GTL plant. Using 430,000 tonnes of naphtha produced at the facility, the region could implement a US$1.5 billion project to manufacture new polymers and petrochemical products. There is also potential to increase the capacity of the Dehkanabad Potash Plant from 365,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes. More than 30 project proposals worth US$830 million have been developed in the fine chemicals sector.
The project manager assigned to the region and other officials have been instructed to prepare a three-year programme covering US$20 billion in projects and creating 50,000 jobs.
Particular attention will be given to building industrial supply chains around major enterprises in Kashkadarya. Officials have been tasked with establishing six industrial clusters by the end of the year in Guzar, Shurtan, Mubarek, Dehkanabad and Nishan. Branches of the Kashkadarya Free Economic Zone will also be opened in Shurtan, Mubarek, Yakkabag and Kasan. An initial 250 billion soums will be allocated for infrastructure development.
The region will also localise the production of modern tractors and agricultural machinery assembled at the Chinese company FM World and launch agricultural drone manufacturing projects at the facility.
The president said he had heard presentations from major energy investors last week. Masdar will commission a 300 MW solar power plant and a 75 MW energy storage system in Kashkadarya next year. The project is valued at US$250 million.
In Karshi District, a 45 MW waste-to-energy project being implemented with a Chinese partner is nearing completion. To strengthen the electricity grid, US$70 million will be raised to build two major substations in Nishan and Kukdala. They are scheduled to become operational next year.
A further US$150 million has been allocated for a new 245-kilometre power transmission line along the Talimarjan–Sogdiana route. Officials have been instructed to complete the project next year.
Agriculture in Kashkadarya has the potential to provide livelihoods for an additional 200,000 people. To this end, a project will be launched jointly with the World Bank, drawing on Egypt’s experience, to sow drought- and salt-resistant fodder crops across 100,000 hectares of pastureland in eight districts using drones.
The work will be carried out in Nishan, Guzar, Mubarek, Kukdala, Kasan, Mirishkor, Kamashi and Dehkanabad. The districts have been tasked with establishing livestock complexes for 10,000 head of cattle and 50,000 head of small ruminants. A zero rate of value-added tax will apply when imported livestock is sold to residents.
In Guzar District, 10,000 hectares of land will be brought into agricultural use. Cotton will be grown on half of the area, with fodder crops planted on the remainder. The land will be allocated to farmers, and a cluster-based production system will be established.
Officials have been instructed to develop a package of incentives for bringing land into productive use within one week.
Satellite data has identified another 30,000 hectares of land in Kashkadarya that could be brought into agricultural use. Most of this land is located in Mubarek, Kasan and Kukdala. Additional areas will be developed in Nishan, Kamashi, Karshi, Mirishkor, Guzar, Yakkabag, Kitab, Chirakchi and Shahrisabz. Ten permanent consultants from Egypt will be involved in this work.
The president highlighted the continuing difficulties and high costs associated with delivering water to farmland in Kashkadarya.
Next year, 265 kilometres of canals will be lined with concrete and 20 pumps will be upgraded. A total of 550 billion soums has been allocated for the work. In 2027, water-saving technologies will be introduced across 75,000 hectares in cooperation with farmers.
This year, four small reservoirs, each with a capacity of 50,000 cubic metres, were built in Kasan, Nishan, Kamashi and Mirishkor. The initiative will be expanded. By 1 June, two more reservoirs of the same capacity will be built in each of the districts of Kasan, Nishan, Mirishkor, Kamashi and Yakkabag.
Mirziyoyev stressed that providing residents with drinking water remained one of Kashkadarya’s most pressing challenges.
Using the 1 trillion soums allocated this year, officials have been instructed to complete construction of 747 kilometres of water supply and sewerage networks, along with 43 facilities, within two months. The work is expected to provide 200,000 people with access to clean drinking water.
A further 100 billion soums has been allocated to launch a project to build a water supply network from the Hisarak Reservoir to the city of Karshi and Kamashi, Guzar and Karshi districts. Officials have been tasked with attracting another US$210 million and ensuring high-quality implementation. The project will provide clean drinking water to 350,000 people.
A project to reconstruct the Talimarjan–Mubarek water system will also begin to improve water supply for another 700,000 residents of Nishan, Kasbi, Mirishkor, Mubarek and Karshi districts. The feasibility study is scheduled for completion by 1 April, and US$150 million will be raised for the project.
Major projects to improve road infrastructure will also be implemented in Kashkadarya. Reconstruction of a 100-kilometre section of the A-380 highway running through the region will begin jointly with the Asian Development Bank. The project is valued at US$350 million.
Karshi’s ring road will be extended by 5.5 kilometres and connected to the highway. Officials have been instructed to complete the feasibility study this year and begin construction in January.
Heavy traffic jams form at railway crossings on the Karshi–Pamuk and Guzar–Beyneu roads when trains pass. Two modern overpasses will be built at these locations at a cost of 250 billion soums.
Chim mahalla in Kamashi District has demonstrated what a modern mahalla should look like. A school with capacity for 640 pupils and a kindergarten for 240 children have been built, while the family polyclinic has been equipped. A new mahalla administration building, youth centre, sports complex and recreation park have also been constructed.
Most importantly, the mahalla no longer has any low-income families or unemployed residents. The president instructed officials to use this experience to establish two modern mahalla centres in every district by Independence Day next year.
The Chim model will also be applied in Mirishkor District. Lemon greenhouses will be established across 20 hectares, an intensive fish-farming operation across another 30 hectares and an almond orchard across 50 hectares.
In spring, intensive orchards will be planted on 8,000 hectares of leased land and greenhouses established on another 3,000 hectares. High-value crops will be grown on the remaining 11,000 hectares through cooperation-based arrangements. Officials have been instructed to begin this work in every district.
The president stressed that banks must demonstrate practical results in directing financial resources towards projects initiated by residents and entrepreneurs. In Andijan, officials were instructed to develop 20 new financial products to enable lending based not only on collateral but also on cash flow and specific orders. The same approach is expected to deliver results in Kashkadarya.
Banks will be assessed not by the number of new products they introduce but by the growth of enterprises and businesses that receive financing through them.
Officials have also been tasked with eliminating excessive lending requirements. Applicants currently have to submit 102 types of documents to obtain a loan. Of these, 53 are already available in information systems, while another 22 are unrelated to the loan application.
The changes are expected to accelerate financing for initiatives in mahallas and support the creation of new jobs.
Kashkadarya has the potential to attract 6 million tourists annually. Since the beginning of the year, 2.5 million tourists have visited the region, including 500,000 who travelled to Gilan village alone.
The first phase of a ski resort in Gilan is scheduled to open next year in cooperation with Tatarstan. The president also highlighted the potential to turn other villages with landscapes similar to Gilan into centres of ethnic tourism. These include Taragay in Chirakchi District, Bashir in Kitab District and Tatar in Yakkabag District. Mountain rivers in Sayyod and Suvtushar villages in Shahrisabz District could support rafting and sports tourism.
Officials have been instructed to prepare a master plan for these six villages within a month and begin implementing projects worth US$50 million from 1 March.
In addition, gastronomic festivals called Lola va Kabob will be held every spring in Guzar, while Chiyal Yakhna will take place in Kukdala.
The president also highlighted the experience of the Advanced Professional Skills Technical School in Karshi. Thirty-two of its instructors recently returned from Germany after completing professional development programmes and are now sharing their knowledge with instructors at 57 technical schools across the region.
Every year, 2,500 students in grades 10 and 11 acquire professional skills at the technical school and receive a vocational certificate alongside their school-leaving certificate. German instructors also teach German and vocational skills to 1,500 young people annually.
Mirziyoyev said he had spoken with the first graduates of the programme. They are being offered jobs in Europe with monthly salaries of between €3,000 and €5,000.
Officials have been instructed to develop specific measures to attract school students from the districts to the Advanced Professional Skills Technical School and the 57 technical schools operating under the new methodology.
Young people in Kashkadarya are achieving strong results in education and intellectual competitions. The Presidential School in Karshi ranked first nationally in Cambridge examinations, achieving a score of 98%. Students from the Abdulla Aripov School of Creative Arts won the Zakovat intellectual tournament.
Murodjon Khalimov, an 11th-grade student from Kasan, scored a perfect 1,600 on the SAT. The president stressed that many other talented young people could achieve similar results if they were given opportunities to study exact sciences in foreign languages. Starting next year, one school in every district will begin teaching exact sciences in a foreign language.
Uzbekistan’s young people have also become world champions in robotics. By the end of the year, a robotics club will be opened and equipped in every district. A regional championship for school students will be held every March. The winner will receive 30 million soums, the runner-up 20 million soums and the third-place participant 10 million soums.
As Kashkadarya’s population grows, so does demand for modern housing. A new city called New Karshi will be built on 5,000 hectares at the intersection of Karshi city, Kukdala District and Karshi District. It is designed to accommodate 500,000 residents. Construction of the Yangi Nasaf eco-complex, covering 235 hectares, will also begin along a canal in Karshi District.
Leading architectural companies will be involved in developing a master plan incorporating advanced urban planning solutions within two months. An initial 20 billion soums has been allocated for its preparation. In the new areas, apartment buildings, shopping centres, business centres and residential properties will be developed according to green and smart city principles.
The region will also develop a Kashkadarya model for planting trees and expanding green spaces. Every year before Navruz, a competition called the Greenest Mahalla will be held, with winners receiving electric vehicles and other valuable prizes.
At the end of the meeting, reports were heard from the regional and district governors, followed by a discussion with local community representatives.
