First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction meets with representatives of the World Bank

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 19 July, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Ilkhom Norkulov met with representatives of the World Bank in the framework of the EGED project led by Chief Economist and EGED Project Manager Mr. William Seitz.

The Effective Governance for Economic Development (EGED) program, funded by the FCDO (Department of Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth and Development of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), aims to improve the efficiency, accountability and transparency of economic policy implementation on selected reform priorities in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The meeting was also attended by the directors of departments Ilhomjon Umrzakov and Shukhrat Matkarimov and senior officials of the ministry. The World Bank side was represented by the EGED Project Responsible Specialist Sevilla Muradova, Lead Natural Resources Management Specialist Paola Agostini, Chief Financial Officer Veigen Lejao and others.

The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the World Bank’s support for the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction in the framework of the EGED project and green growth, as well as the vision and plans for ensuring green growth in Uzbekistan.

The World Bank also proposed to hold an international conference on green growth in Tashkent next year, with broad coverage of the country’s achievements in this area.

During the meeting, the Uzbek side noted that issues related to the "green" economy have acquired particular relevance in the period of post-pandemic economic recovery. Moreover, it was noted that the most priority areas in the implementation of the principles of "green" economy are agriculture and, to a lesser extent, industry.

The bank’s specialists made a short presentation on plans to support the "green" transition in Uzbekistan, where they noted 3 important tasks. First, inform about the green and just transition agenda; second, the institutional assessment of the environment and climate; third, coordinating and promoting participation in green growth. Also, representatives of the bank expressed great interest in close-knit teamwork with specialists from relevant ministries and departments in the implementation of the program. 

Both sides noted their readiness to continue mutually beneficial and long-term partnership in order to effectively implement reforms in this area.