Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - On 5 March, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov met with President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti, during which the parties discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, results of joint activities in 2019, the current state of ongoing projects and prospects for expanding cooperation in 2020.

Mr. Chakrabarti praised the measures taken in Uzbekistan to liberalize the economy, as well as the conditions created for foreign investors.

The president of the bank also noted an unprecedented increase in the volume of Uzbek exports and attracted direct investment in Uzbekistan in 2019.

At present, about 78 completed and ongoing priority projects with preferential financing of the Bank amounting to more than 1.8 billion euros form a portfolio of mutual cooperation.

Projects cover such important areas and directions as the modernization of energy, transport and housing and communal infrastructure, investments in agriculture, and the development of the private sector.

As part of the long-term Partnership Program for the period until 2023, only in 2019 the EBRD approved financing of projects totaling more than 500 million euros, as a result of which the portfolio of implemented investment projects of the Bank in Uzbekistan exceeded the US$1 billion mark.

In addition, leading EBRD experts are actively involved in initiatives to reform state-owned enterprises, the capital market, privatize state-owned banks, and identify strategic investors for implementing PPP projects.

The EBRD President emphasized that support for the economic reforms and structural reforms initiated by Uzbekistan is one of the EBRD’s priorities and the dynamics of financing Uzbek initiatives will only progress.

Separately, he noted the Bank’s intention to focus on financing projects in the private sector, which will allow actively involving the population in entrepreneurial activity and creating additional jobs.

The prospects for cooperation in the framework of joint events were also touched upon - the initiative to hold the Annual Meeting of the EBRD Governing Council in Samarkand in 2023 was discussed. The final decision on this issue will be made in May this year during the Annual Meeting of the EBRD Governing Council in London.

As a result of the meeting, an agreement was reached by joint efforts to accelerate the disbursement of funds under the signed agreements on ongoing projects, as well as a new agreement was signed on financing the EBRD for the modernization of Thermal Power Plants JSC in the amount of US$190.6 million.