Takuya Kamata said that this is envisaged in the new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Uzbekistan for 2012-2015 financial years, which was approved by the World Bank Group’s Board of Directors.

He said that the World Bank will use examples of other countries, where the similar programmes were developed, for example, China and Malaysia.

Kamata underlined that the bank wants to attract foreign specialists, who participated in developing similar programmes, to assist Uzbekistan to prepare strategy “Uzbekistan Vision 2030”.

The World Bank official said that the bank is also planning to cooperate with local research institutes like in China. He said that the bank hopes that this will lead to close cooperation.

Takuya Kamata stated that the World Bank will provide analytical and advisory services to Uzbekistan, which will be aimed at helping the country to prepare a comprehensive sector-wide understanding of future development directions.

He stated that based on these work, the bank will show, which sectors can be competitive and what can be done to achieve development. He said that the bank also wants to analyze how Uzbekistan can achieve higher value added cost in various sectors of industry.

As reported earlier, the World Bank Group’s Board of Directors approved a new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Uzbekistan, providing the framework for World Bank Group assistance to Uzbekistan between 2012 and 2015.

The new Strategy proposes a program linked to Uzbekistan’s development vision of reaching high middle-income status by mid-century. It was developed based on a broad dialogue with the Government of Uzbekistan and consultations with all development partners, including civil society organizations, academia, business communities, professional associations, and multilateral and bilateral donors.

Through implementation of the CPS, the World Bank intends to help enhance the key elements of the Government’s medium-term growth and development strategy: promoting efficiency, enhancing competitiveness, accelerating diversification, and ensuring social inclusion. A new financing envelope of US$1.3 billion – consisting of concessional International Development Association (IDA) credits and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loans – reflects the country’s development needs, its income level, economic prospects, economic management, poverty level, and performance of Bank-sponsored programs. It will support projects in the areas of water supply and sanitation, irrigation, energy, transport, and private sectors over the next four years. The Bank will also extend the on-going support for basic services in health and education.

Uzbekistan joined the World Bank in 1992. The World Bank currently has 10 active projects whose outstanding total commitment is about US$630 million.