"We should think about post-crisis periods of our development and the development of a well-thought-out long-term programme of target projects of modernization and technical renovation of our basic industries, the implementation of modern innovative technologies which are called to give a powerful impetus to Uzbekistan’s movement to new limits which will secure the competitiveness of our country on the global market," Uzbek President Islam Karimov told a governmental meeting dedicated to results of the country’s socio-economic development in 2008 and priorities for 2009.

Preliminary work on the programme indicates that it can include around 300 investment projects in the fuel and energy, chemical and petrochemical, metal, textile, construction materials, engineering and other industries worth in total over US$24 billion, the president said.