President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov attended the meeting and delivered a speech, UzA reported.

The head of our state noted in particular that the Tashkent province is distinct with the fertility of its soil, with its rich mineral resources and ample water resources, and has drawn admiration for its matchless and picturesque nature.

By producing agricultural goods, the farmers of this region have been making a remarkable input into the efforts aimed at supplying sufficient amounts of it not merely to the residents of the province, but also those of the capital Tashkent, as well.

The Tashkent region boasts an advanced manufacturing segment, the leading sector of economy. In general, the province accounts for 9.6% of the gross domestic product, 12.4% of the manufacturing production, 9.4% of services – indicative of the region’s keen production capacities, President Karimov said.

Major enterprises in sectors like the fuel-energy complex, chemical, petrochemical and construction industries, agricultural goods reprocessing are operating in the Tashkent region. One can cite as an example the modern plant for the production of automobile engines. The factory, built here jointly with the renowned American corporation General Motors, is unique to the Commonwealth of Independent States. In addition, the province and the nation at large benefit from major industrial complexes in the cities of Chirchik, Almalyk, Bekabad.

President Islam Karimov stressed the achievements made in the region across sectors; at the same time he drew the attention of meeting participants to the existing shortcomings and expounded on priority tasks for future action.

Managerial issues were also on the agenda of the session. Thus, Rustam Kholmatov has been dismissed as hokim (governor) of the Tashkent region.

The President of Uzbekistan nominated Ahmad Usmanov, hokim of Andijan region, for the position of hokim of the Tashkent province. Usmanov has been effectively elected to the proposed post.