Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - On 6 April, a video conference was held with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov and President of the Asian Bank for Infrastructure Investment (AIIB) Jin Liqun.

The parties discussed the format of cooperation to overcome the social and economic challenges facing the Republic in connection with the global spread of coronavirus infection.

The AIIB President praised the relevance and effectiveness of the proactive measures taken by the country’s leadership to protect the population from the global pandemic and, in particular, the creation of the Anti-Crisis Fund of Uzbekistan, whose goal is to finance a wide range of economic and social support for the population.

In turn, he assured the Uzbek side of the Bank’s firm intentions to provide tangible support to Uzbekistan in stabilizing the economy and further enhancing the country’s investment attractiveness through the consistent development of infrastructure despite the difficult global economic situation.

On behalf of the Government of Uzbekistan, the Bank’s management expressed appreciation for the approval by the Bank’s Board of Directors last week of a special loan in the amount of US$385 million for a large-scale project to modernize the infrastructure of roads, water supply and sanitation in Bukhara region. (total amount of projects – US$1.3 billion).

The AIIB President assured that the Bank will shortly complete the preparation and approve the provision of long-term soft loans for previously agreed projects for the reconstruction of roads in Bukhara region, the Republic of Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region, as well as the provision of drinking water, sewage systems and heat supply to settlements in the Republic of Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region for a total amount of more than 680 million dollars.

During the video conference, an agreement was reached on joint development of an emergency allocation of additional funding to support the healthcare system and entrepreneurship in order to minimize the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy of Uzbekistan.

The President of the AIIB confirmed his readiness to expeditiously consider the application of Uzbekistan and assured his commitment to the comprehensive support of Uzbekistan.