Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov met with Vice President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Ashok Lavasa.

During the meeting, the current state and prospects for expanding bilateral cooperation between Uzbekistan and ADB were discussed.

The ADB leadership announced that in recent years Uzbekistan has created ample opportunities to strengthen the role of the private sector in almost all sectors of the economy. In this regard, issues of expanding the attraction of Bank resources to support private sector projects, especially women’s and youth entrepreneurship, were discussed.

The parties considered joint projects using public-private partnership mechanisms in the development of infrastructure, healthcare, education and the social sphere. Ashok Lavasa noted that the Bank is interested in expanding cooperation in the field of PPP, as evidenced by the inclusion in the cooperation agenda of projects to modernize schools and institutions in Tashkent and the Tashkent region, as well as the construction of multidisciplinary hospitals in Andijan and Bukhara using PPP mechanisms.

During the meeting, measures were agreed to promote ongoing projects, involve ADB experts in the development and implementation of a public-private partnership mechanism for implementing projects in the transport, electricity and health sectors, expanding the volume of credit lines provided to commercial banks in Uzbekistan.

Issues on individual projects and initiatives were also considered, including the Program for the Modernization and Equipping of Primary Schools in the Regions of the Country, the project “Introduction of STEM Methods (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in Secondary Education”, as well as the Program for Supporting Women Entrepreneurs (WeFi).

Following the meeting, Vice President Ashok Lavasa informed about the decision of the ADB President to nominate the ADB Governor from Uzbekistan as the Chairman of the ADB Remuneration Committee, which determines the level of remuneration of the President, Vice Presidents and members of the ADB Board of Directors. Previously, this position was traditionally held by representatives of the G20 countries.