The source said that over 660,000 new jobs had been created in the country since the start of this year, which is a significant increase compared to last year.

According to the State Statistics Committee, the number of people employed in the Uzbek economy in January-September 2008, was 11.1 million and has increased by 3.1% compared to the same period of 2007.

The representative of the ministry said that monitoring had been conducted in the country’s regions, where the greatest number of people working abroad is observed.

"Special attention is being paid to creating new jobs in these regions," he said.

Speaking about the possibility of Russia’s reducing quota for foreign labour migrants by 50% in connection with the global financial crisis, the representative of the Uzbek ministry noted that along with creating new jobs, Uzbekistan was working on sending citizens to the countries that need labour force.

"Currently, we are talking with the countries such as Malaysia, Japan, Poland, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Germany and the UAE with the aim of sending Uzbek citizens to work in these countries. Moreover, we have sent proposals to New Zealand, Australia, Spain and Italy," the source said.