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Uzbekistan highly values the growing cooperation with ADB – President


President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov spoke at the opening session of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Tashkent on 3 May.

He cordially welcomed participants, representatives of high-profile international organizations and all guests who have arrived in the Uzbek capital.

"It is a great honor for us that the capital of our country is the first among the states of Central Asia and Caucasus that was chosen as a venue to hold this important event, and we would like to express the sincerest gratitude to the governments of the ADB member-countries that took this decision," he emphasized.

In his speech the President Islam Karimov briefly touched upon some issues which have an immediate relation to the meeting's agenda.

"The past 2009 became truly the year of serious stress test for the world economy, and practically there was not a single country which avoided the negative consequences of the global financial and economic crisis. And today, despite the assessments of the respected international analysts and experts that the most acute and rather hurting phase of the crisis is overcome, nevertheless we are facing very complex, quite painful and lasting process of economic recovery," he said.

"While analyzing the problems that emerge in the course of addressing the crisis of the world economy, we ought to pay our attention, above all, to unstable and low growth rates, outstanding high unemployment, notable deterioration of financial state of the real sector of economy and decreasing of the population's real incomes," the Uzbek leader noted.

He said the large fiscal deficits taking in some countries threatening scales and growth of a public debt may lead to a serious tension with regard to paying off these debts and possible defaults. The low level and in some cases decline of domestic demand are being observed, and this, in its turn, hinders return to stable and sustainable output growth rates.

"We believe that we should agree with the opinion of many leading world experts that the excess liquidity and further pumping banking and financial sector with financial resources create conditions for an outburst of speculative capital, inflating the so-called bubbles on the stock and commodities markets and these factors may well lead to a new collapse on the financial and foreign exchange markets with all related consequences in the future," he added.

"It goes without saying that growing emission and increase of money supply bring about a potentially dangerous situation of inflation processes. We have to speak time and again that many, especially the developed countries, are carried away by protectionist measures, which first and foremost trigger significant problems for the developing countries and in general for recovery and development of the world economy," Islam Karimov said.

Uzbek President noted that the degree and depth of susceptibility of each particular country to the impact of the world crisis, above all, depends on the model of reforms being implemented, sustainability and reliability of the financial-economic and banking systems and the protective mechanisms put in them are strong.

In this respect, Islam Karimov touched upon the Uzbek model of development and reforming the economy adopted in the early years of the country's independence in 1992. "Today we have all grounds to state that during the past period, in particular, during the period of extreme impact of the crisis processes, this model has completely justified itself," he said.

The sufficient resources and a reliable margin of safety of the financial and banking system created during the past period, prudent and balanced economic policy, the measures to protect the economy against the influence of a speculative capital, unmanageable turmoil and lack of control on the world financial and stock markets, as well as the strict control over the macro-economic balance of the economy, have had a profound importance in mitigating the destructive impact of the crisis.

The timely, adequate and targeted nature of the Anti-crisis program for 2009-2012 adopted in Uzbekistan have played an enormous role in countering the crisis and neutralizing its negative consequences.

Along with rendering the needed assistance to the banking sector, the support, firstly, of the financial stability of the real economy, easing the tax burden and providing this sector, especially the export-oriented enterprises with necessary privileges and preferences, as well as the measures to reduce costs and raise profitability through modernization, technical and technological re-equipment and diversification of production, stood as the most important priorities in implementing the Anti-crisis program.

The exclusive attention being paid in the country to developing the services sector, small businesses and private entrepreneurship played a vital role in tackling the crisis and ensuring sustainability of the economy's development.

The implementation of the large-scale social, infrastructure, transport and communication projects, through which we have addressed the tasks of creating new jobs and raising the population's incomes were rather important in achieving the objectives of the Anti-crisis program.

"I would like to emphasize that the measures taken in the framework of the Anti-crisis program pursue the prospective targets that go far beyond simply countering the crisis and neutralizing its consequences," the President of Uzbekistan noted.

"We do realize that those countries which have by now already started laying the foundations and launching the long-term innovative projects aimed at deep structural changes and diversification of production will definitely benefit in the post-crisis period."

"Uzbekistan highly values the growing cooperation with the Asian Development Bank and considers it as the most important strategic partner which for over the last years has become for us a leading international financial institution both by the size of credit portfolio and in the framework of regional cooperation in Central Asia," the Uzbek President noted.

Since 1996 Uzbekistan has completed 11 projects worth over $520 million out of allocated $1.2 billion of credit resources. The country is continuing to implement other 15 projects worth over $650 million.

"We note with a great appreciation that nowadays our cooperation is considerably expanding and reaching a new level. During the ADB Annual meeting in Tashkent we have signed additional four loan agreements worth in total more than $1.15 billion, i.e. the ADB in fact has doubled its credit portfolio in our country," he added.

"Today we are fully convinced that such significant components of our cooperation as reliability and commitment to partnership, and certainly, a purposeful utilization by Uzbekistan of the provided funds shall be ensured furthermore," Islam Karimov emphasized.

The ADB could become for Uzbekistan a key partner in implementing the programs of structural reforms and diversification of the economy that are extremely important for the country, the head of our state said touching upon his vision of the priorities of Uzbekistan's cooperation with the Asian Development Bank.

"These programs are aimed at the deep processing of rich natural resources, mineral, hydrocarbon and agricultural raw materials to change the quality and increase the share of the high-technological and competitive goods in the export structure," he noted. "We mean implementation of the projects of modernization, technical and technological re-equipment of the leading branches of Uzbekistan's economy, including mining, oil and gas, chemical and textile industries".

The most important priorities of Uzbekistan's modernization strategy include development of modern transport communications system, implementation of such projects as construction of the Uzbek national highway, establishment of the inter-modal logistics center at the Navoi Airport, extensive renewal of the rolling-stock and extension of the railway network.

"We highly appreciate the fact that during the ADB Annual Meeting we have signed the agreement on allocating the loan worth $600 million for the purposes of construction and modernization of the Uzbek national highway," the President of Uzbekistan said.

Another direction of cooperation is support and further development of private businesses and non-state sector of the economy. If in 1991 the non-state sector made up just less than 3% of the Uzbek economy, then today its share in the GDP is over 80%, and in the certain leading branches of economy, i.e. agriculture, construction, telecommunications, retail and services, the private form of ownership equals to about 100%.

"Along with this, we see a large prospect in further expanding and enhancing the positions of the private sector of economy, in particular, in such sectors as electric energy, chemical, light, food, electro-technical and machine-building industry, in the banking and financial services, and other leading branches of the economy," the Uzbek leader noted.

Uzbekistan and ADB should develop cooperation to further reform and strengthen material resources of agriculture and related branches, he said adding: "One should not forget that in Uzbekistan more than 95% of agricultural products are cultivated on irrigated lands. Therefore introduction of the latest water-saving technologies is vitally significant given growing shortage of water resources in the region."

"In such conditions we will have to accomplish the large-scale works to radically improve and reclaim irrigated lands that suffer from massive salinization and here we see a prospective direction of cooperation with the ADB," he said.

Support of the social sector development, strengthening the modern basis of the education and healthcare systems are additional directions of possible cooperation. "The support of the country's potential of secondary, professional-technical and higher education, the sphere of healthcare, motherhood and childhood, providing them with cutting-edge equipment, computer and information-communications technology, implementation of the advanced methods of diagnostics and treatment in healthcare, - all these aspects stand as very important directions of cooperation, where we feel a huge need," Islam Karimov noted.

"We appreciate that the ADB takes an active part in developing financial and banking system of Uzbekistan, including projects of improvement of public finances, allocation of credit lines for commercial banks and non-banking credit institutions, and participating in the capital of the rapidly developing private Uzbek banks," Uzbek President said. "We are convinced that in this sphere of cooperation we have good prospects, too."

"During the uneasy period of the global financial and economic crisis the Asian Development Bank, its Board of Governors and the ADB President Mr. Kuroda demonstrated effective and well-coordinated work, which provided a timely reaction to challenges caused by the crisis, were able to elaborate and introduce the new instruments and non-trivial approaches to mitigate the consequences of the crisis," Islam Karimov underlined.

"Nowadays, the countries of Asia – the most dynamically developing region of the world which managed better than others the destructive impact of the crisis – are facing the new challenges both in the sphere of economic development, ensuring balanced economic growth and in the matters related to regional stability and security. The solution of these issues requires concerted and well-coordinated work of international organizations, financial institutions and governments," he concluded.


03.05.2010

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