Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 12 August 2019, a delegation of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in the United States participated in the Global Smart Cities and Communities summit organized by Dentons Law Firm.

This event has been held since 2018 and represents a platform for a wide exchange of views on the construction of “smart cities”, analysis of existing problems in the implementation of relevant projects around the world.

The panel session of the summit, which was attended by more than 100 representatives of official, business and academic circles in the field of "smart city" from around the world, was addressed by the Ambassador of Uzbekistan Javlon Vakhabov.

The event also included a presentation of ongoing projects in Uzbekistan in this area, taking into account demographic and socio-economic aspects. Explanations are given on the Government’s plans for the phased formation of urban agglomerations.

At the same time, the head of the diplomatic mission of our country emphasized that special attention in the processes of urban development in Uzbekistan is paid to ensuring citizens their ownership rights to residential premises and commercial buildings, the development of cities, taking into account the balance between innovation and the historical value of buildings. Attention is also drawn to the created wide opportunities, benefits and preferences for foreign investors in implementing investment projects in the field of urban development, including on the principles of PPP.

Ernest Moniz, the former US Secretary of Energy, also spoke at the summit, who noted that smart cities, being the largest consumers of energy, face the urgent need for careful planning and rational use. In his opinion, instead of the traditional single-line power supply system, the use of “Smart grids”, as well as the principles of the “circular economy” based on the renewal of resources and waste processing for further use in production, will make it possible to modernize the supply of electricity and minimize waste and other types of pollution.

Chima Nkemdirim, Vice President of the Canadian telecommunications company Shaw Communications, announced the Smart Cities Challenge contest held by the Canadian government last year with a total prize pool of US$75 million for the most innovative projects. According to him, this competition not only revealed various creative ideas on how to use public investments, but also by strengthening the image of the country as supporting advanced technologies, it stimulated large American companies Google and Facebook to invest in innovative projects in Canada

In general, the participation of the Uzbek delegation in the summit “Global Smart Cities and Communities” made it possible to establish contacts with leading representatives of official, academic and business circles in the field of urban development, to study the experience of developed and developing countries in this field, to widely familiarize the world community with the ongoing reforms in Uzbekistan, and also present to potential partner companies the investment opportunities available in this direction.