At the beginning of the talks, the parties signed an agreement between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the World Bank on the allocation of a loan to support ongoing reforms for US$500 million.

Cyril Muller said that the Government of Uzbekistan has launched a long-term and multilateral reform affecting virtually all spheres of the economy, in particular, notable results have been achieved in agriculture, taxation, namely, the adoption of the Tax Reform Concept, as well as the measures undertaken in the framework of Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO and etc.

The representative of the World Bank expressed satisfaction that, at the invitation of the republic’s leadership, a group of experts from the World Bank took an active part in the activities within the framework of the ongoing reforms.

During the meeting, the parties discussed further ways of mutually beneficial cooperation. In particular, the parties discussed the possibility of participation of experts from the World Bank and other organizations in the drafting of the Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan in a new edition proceeding from the main directions of the Concept of improving the tax policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Two independent missions of the World Bank are expected to arrive to provide technical assistance on the development of the Tax Code and the definition of the main directions of the pension reform.

At the end of the meeting, representatives of the World Bank proposed to continue reforms aimed at increasing the efficiency and ensuring profitability of state-owned companies, as well as ensuring the sustainability of state-owned commercial banks.