Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The OPEC Fund for International Development is strongly committed to supporting Uzbekistan in its progress to achieve the objectives of its 2030 agenda, Musab Alomar, Director for MENA, Eastern Europe & Central Asia of the OPEC Fund for International Development said in an interview with UzDaily.

Musab Alomar during his interview spoke about the activities of the OPEC Fund, its operations in Uzbekistan and recent meeting of the OPEC Fund delegation led by President Abdulhamid Alkhalifa.

Could you provide an overview of the history of the OPEC Fund for International Development and its primary areas of operational focus?

We have a track record of almost 50 years of creating development impact where it is needed. The OPEC Fund stands for sustainable development, value creation and fostering resilience. We are a multilateral development finance institution, established in 1976 by the member countries of OPEC as an independent organization to support development, strengthen communities and empower people. The OPEC Fund provides public, private, and trade sector financing as well as grants and to date have committed about US$27 billion of our own resources for more than 4,500 projects in over 125 countries with an estimated total cost of more than US$200 billion. 

We engage in all major sectors with a focus on agriculture, education, energy, financial institutions, health, infrastructure, transport and water & sanitation. We have also mainstreamed climate action and food security as cross-cutting themes throughout our operations as matters of priority and urgency.

Can you offer insights into the historical collaboration between the OPEC Fund and Uzbekistan?

This year marks the 25th anniversary of our fruitful partnership with Uzbekistan and we are delighted to be part of Uzbekistan’s development journey. Since 1999, we have provided financing for nearly 30 operations for a total amount of around US$ 760 million, utilizing our full range of financing mechanisms.

We are proud to take our cooperation to the next level. We have signed a country partnership framework agreement for the period 2024-2029, earmarking US$500 million in new financing to support the country’s ambitious sustainable development agenda. 

Further deepening the relationship, we are also extending a new US$20 million loan to support a key preschool education project by the government, setting up 200 preschools for almost 30,000 children across Uzbekistan. The government’s goal is to achieve universal preschool enrolment by 2030 and we share the view that building human capacity is one of the keys to success for every nation. 

What specific projects is the OPEC Fund currently financing in Uzbekistan?

Uzbekistan is a frontrunner in the Central Asian region for us. When we reflect on how our cooperation with Uzbekistan has developed over the years, we see a massive surge once the country embarked on its current reform process. This tells us that the our work is all the more effective and impactful when it is met with a conducive environment that supports a competitive, free and fair market economy. The OPEC Fund provided its first policy-based loan to the government with a volume of US$100 million to support legislative and regulatory reforms.

Our sovereign portfolio currently includes projects in the water supply sector (accounting for 30 percent) as well as transport, education, agriculture and more. Building basic infrastructure is in my view crucial for a successful economy and to make a difference in people’s lives. In this spirit we support the government’s efforts to develop rural infrastructure through the Obod Qishloq  Program, which will benefit over 700,000 people.

We have also been very successful in building a strong partnership with the private sector in Uzbekistan. More than half of our country portfolio is with private partners. Through local financial intermediaries we are extending much needed financing to the real economy, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. 

Around 50% of our private sector financing is currently in the energy sector. This includes renewables - two large wind power plants aggregating 1.0GW, sponsored by the leading Saudi developer ACWA Power - and two transformational gas power facilities such as the award-winning 1.5 GW Sirdarya plant.

During your visit to Uzbekistan, you engaged in discussions with the country's leadership. Could you elaborate on the outcomes and any agreements reached during these talks?

We were honored to meet with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, Jamshid Kuchkarov, Deputy Prime Minister of Trade and Investment Jamshid Khodjaev, and Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade, Laziz Kudratov. We also had a chance to speak with many of our partner institutions and visit some of our ongoing projects. We also had a chance to meet with Minister of Preschool and School Education, Khilola Umarova and visit the very impressive, state-of-the-art Samarkand Presidential School, as instructed by President Mirziyoyev.

As President Mirziyoyev highlighted in his speech during the Tashkent Investment Forum plenary opening, Uzbekistan has taken decisive steps to fundamentally improve the investment and business environment and is implementing comprehensive reforms to ensure a conducive investment climate. 

He has also highlighted green energy, banking, infrastructure development and education and human capital as priorities. We are very proud that these are also areas that we prioritize as we see them critical for the sustainable development of the country. We are strongly committed to supporting Uzbekistan in its progress to achieve the objectives of its 2030 agenda.