Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A regular meeting of the Uzbek-German Intergovernmental Consultation on Financial and Technical Cooperation was held on 14 November at the State Investment Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The German side was represented by Catherine Oellers, head of the department of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMC). The German delegation also included specialists from the German Development Bank KfW and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).

From the Uzbek side, the meeting was chaired by Laziz Kudratov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Committee on Investments, with the participation of heads of ministries and departments of Uzbekistan.

According to the agenda of the meeting, the results of interaction and project proposals for further development of bilateral relations between Uzbekistan and Germany were discussed.

The German side noted the progress achieved in implementing reforms aimed at ensuring the rule of law, the implementation of public control mechanisms, the strengthening of the role of civil society institutions and the socio-economic development of the country as a whole.

“With the financial and technical assistance of the Government of Germany, Uzbekistan implemented a number of important projects aimed at developing vocational education, health care, agriculture, small business, and transport infrastructure systems,” Laziz Kudratov said in his speech, “We also express our gratitude to our partners - the bank KfW and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) for their active work and effective cooperation in Uzbekistan. ”

In turn, Catherine Oellers in her welcoming speech stressed that since the last visit to Uzbekistan in 2015, there have been significant changes in the country.

“I would like to note that Uzbekistan has begun to more effectively use its potential in such areas as the development and promotion of reforms, the development of effective government, and the field of human rights protection,” Catherine Oellers shared. “These measures also influenced the relationship between Uzbekistan and Germany have developed even more intensively. At today’s meeting, we would like to learn about the future course of the government of Uzbekistan, and find out what the main directions for our part, we could support. ”

The meeting participants said that following the results of the Intergovernmental negotiations in 2017, the parties identified the following main areas of cooperation - the implementation of projects in the field of "Health" and "Sustainable Development of the Economy". Thus, within the framework of cooperation between the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan and the Government of Germany, an amount of 11.3 million euros was allocated for Phase IV of the Healthcare Program for investment projects. Of which, 10.3 million euros for the project "Modernization of regional multidisciplinary medical centers - phase IV" and 1 million euros for the implementation of the program "Fight against tuberculosis-V", funded by the German KfW bank.

On the eve of the Intergovernmental Consultations, Kathryn Oellers visited the Republican Scientific Center of Pediatrics and took part in the opening ceremony of the Pediatric Radiology Training Center, implemented jointly with KfW and GIZ in the framework of the project "Improving the skills of medical and technical staff to work on modern high-tech medical equipment."

During the consultations, the parties reached an agreement on resumption of cooperation in the field of “Sustainable Development of the Economy”, which will further contribute to the economic recovery of the country, the growth of welfare of the population, the development of small and private businesses and other areas.

German policy for development is guided, first and foremost, by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. According to the priority tasks, special attention is paid to the social adaptation of people with disabilities and ensuring their decent working conditions.

Within the framework of organized sessions, representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Trade, Justice, Employment and Labor Relations, Health, Higher and Secondary Special Education, Public Education, Agriculture, Water Economy, State Committees on Forestry, on Ecology and Environment Protection and other departments, discussed potential investment projects for further cooperation with Germany for development.

Part of the issues discussed was dedicated to cooperation on regional projects such as “Strengthening quality infrastructure in Central Asia” (PTB), “Promoting the rule of law for sustainable economic development in Central Asia” (GIZ), “Vocational education in Central Asia” (GIZ) , Trade Facilitation in Central Asia (GIZ), Sustainable and Climate-Sensitive Land Use for the Benefit of Economic Development in Central Asia (GIZ) and others.

Following the results of the Uzbek-German Intergovernmental Consultations, priorities for further cooperation were identified and the relevant meeting minutes were signed.