Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 23 July 2020, in the format of a video conference, negotiations were held between the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan - Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov and Vice President of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde.

During the dialogue, the progress of the current bilateral cooperation, the results of the implementation of the portfolio of joint projects for the first half of the year, the progress of the coordination of projects under preparation, as well as promising areas for further interaction with the World Bank in terms of economic reforms and structural reforms in Uzbekistan were discussed.

The Bank’s management was grateful for the prompt consideration of projects aimed at improving the socio-economic situation in the Republic and having a special priority in the current epidemiological situation - since the beginning of this year, the World Bank has approved financing for 4 such projects totaling more than US$1 billion.

It was noted that according to the results of the first half of the year, the volume of disbursed borrowed funds of the World Bank made up US$310.0 million, and the utilization rate reached one of the highest rates in the region.

The Vice President of the Bank announced that 9 new projects in the field of telecommunication technologies, energy, commercialization of science, urban planning, forestry, as well as improving the systems for collecting and processing statistical data and tax administration, for a total of US$1.5 billion.

During the talks, the special role of the World Bank in the implementation of large-scale reforms in Uzbekistan was emphasized: the Bank’s experts provided substantial support in the development of the "Roadmap" of the main directions of structural reforms of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the period 2019-2021, the reform program for the aviation and energy sectors, economy, the concept of development of the higher education system, the new edition of the Tax Code, strategies for reforming the banking system.

In this context, further actions were discussed within the framework of joint work to reform state-owned enterprises, the banking sector, the aviation industry and other sectors of the economy of Uzbekistan.

The commitment of the World Bank to provide further assistance to Uzbekistan in matters of regional development was voiced and the tasks for the development of universal programs for each region of the Republic were agreed, based on available resources and comparative advantages. Also, joint work will be intensified to introduce effective mechanisms for managing public investments that ensure high economic returns.

As a result of the negotiations, the parties outlined priority tasks in the framework of further interaction and agreed to intensify work in priority areas.