Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on 23 February on youth employment issues.

Youth is a priority in the strong social policy of our state. Constant attention is paid to the quality education of young people and their acquisition of professions, and support of their initiatives. In each mahalla, the “Youth Employment Program” is implemented, the “Olympiad of Five Initiatives”, “Caravan of Culture” and various festivals are held.

On 21 February, by decree of the President, the State Program for the implementation of the Strategy “Uzbekistan - 2030” in the Year of Support for Youth and Business was approved. It identifies a number of tasks to solve the problems of youth and realize their potential, ensuring employment through training in in-demand professions.

In particular, this year it is necessary to employ 925 thousand boys and girls. In addition, 300 thousand young people will graduate from colleges, technical schools and higher education institutions.

Issues of employment, training young people in modern professions and attracting them to entrepreneurship were discussed at the meeting.

It was noted that additional opportunities for youth business would be created. At least 40 percent of loans allocated under the family entrepreneurship program will be used for these purposes. “Young Entrepreneur” competitions will be held, and the winners with the best business projects and ideas will be sent abroad to improve their skills.

Responsible officials announced plans to provide employment for 100 thousand young people in new industrial projects, 150 thousand in the service sector, as well as 200 thousand through the legalization of jobs and self-employment.

Digital technology is currently a promising area for young people. Therefore, the state program provides for the implementation of the project “Two programmers from each mahalla.” In addition, it is planned to provide employment to 70 thousand young people in the field of information technology.

It was noted that for this it is necessary to identify capable boys and girls, help them study IT specialties and foreign languages, and the khokims were given appropriate instructions.

Through the Ibrat Farzandlari project of the Youth Agency, one million children will be taught foreign languages free of charge. Unused premises in schools will be provided for free rent to foreign language tutors and training centers. 100 private learning centers in rural areas with high student achievement will receive reimbursement of rental costs for up to 6 months.

Also, young people studying in private courses and receiving a C1 level certificate will be reimbursed for training costs, and for obtaining a B2 level certificate in German, French, Korean, Japanese and Chinese, the costs of obtaining the certificate will be reimbursed. Another innovation is that not only the cost of taking the certificate exam will be covered, but also six months of tuition fees.

As part of the Ustoz project, 250 thousand young people will be trained in 30 modern professions, such as marketing, advertising, e-commerce, and IT design.

In the field of agriculture there are ample opportunities for providing employment to the population. In recent years, for this purpose, 200 thousand hectares of land released from cotton and grain crops have been distributed among the population for farming. This year it is planned to allocate another 60 thousand 500 hectares of land to young people.

It was noted that a new procedure will be applied for the effective distribution of land. Thus, district khokims will be responsible for allocating plots in places with good water supply. The Mahalla “seven” will propose how much land to allocate to each young person. The young people who received the land will be trained in growing high-yield export crops at the Agrobank Farmers’ School. For the purchase of mini-equipment, seeds and seedlings, subsidies will be allocated from the Youth Notebook Fund and the Farmers Fund. Young farmers will cooperate with exporters and processing enterprises. In addition, loans of up to 2 billion soums will be provided to fruit and vegetable cooperatives.

The meeting reviewed the implementation of the Decree of the President of Uzbekistan “On additional measures to improve the procedure for leasing agricultural land plots” dated January 18 of this year. The decree stipulates that 15 thousand 626 hectares of agricultural land in 156 districts will be put up for online auction.

The head of state emphasized the importance of allocating these lands in places close to populated areas, with good water supply and fertility, for growing export-oriented crops on the basis of cooperation. The khokims are tasked with expanding the work on land development and creating jobs on their basis.

At the meeting, reports from responsible persons on the issues discussed were heard.