INFORMATION DIGEST OF PRESS OF UZBEKISTAN #180

September 13, 2017

OFFICIAL
President of Uzbekistan aprroves preschool education development road map

FREE INDUSTRIAL ECONOMIC ZONE
FEZ "Angren" releases first batch of tires

EXPORT
Uzkimyoimpex established in Uzbekistan

BUSINESS CLIMATE
Farms and machine-tractor fleets in five districts of the Tashkent region will receive preferential terms for leasing agricultural machinery

TECHNOLOGIES
Uzbekistan: maximum openness

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Statement of the MFA of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Delegation of University of Leicester visits Uzbekistan

FESTIVELS
Margilan hosts Festival of Traditional Textile “Atlas Bayrami”

OFFICIAL

President of Uzbekistan aprroves preschool education development road map
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree approving the Uzbekistan’s Preschool Education Development Road Map. The document is published on the Presidency website.
New pilot pre-schools will create in Tashkent, Nukus and provincial centers Starting from January 1, 2018 under public-private partnership terms. The experiment provides for free allocation of land and vacant premises to investors for a period of 50 years to set up "modern and affordable pre-schools."
Investors will get tax privileges, preferences, as well as soft loans for opening pre-schools, especially in areas with the highest demand for such and undeveloped infrastructure.
In return, investors will have to strictly adhere to the provisions of public-private partnership agreement, state standards for preschools, sanitary and hygienic norms, maintain primary activities during the whole duration of the agreement, and ensuring affordability of preschool services.
The resolution allows pre-schools in Tashkent, as an experiment, to conclude direct contracts for supply of food and ready meals.
The Ministry of Finance together with the ministries of Finance, Economy, Health and the Competition committee will have to submit proposals to the Cabinet in the end of 2017 to implement this practice in other provinces.
In addition, the document forms a Commission for critical studies and development of proposals for further improvement of the preschool education system.
The commission will be engaged in the inventory check and analysis of legislation in the field of preschool education to identify holes and norms that contribute to "the manifestation of corruption and other violations".
(Source: Tashkenttimes.uz)

FREE INDUSTRIAL ECONOMIC ZONE

FEZ "Angren" releases first batch of tires
Rubber products factory (RPF), which is undergoing construction in FEZ Angren in Tashkent region released its first trial batch of tires.
Exactly 2 years ago on August 28, 2015, a solemn ceremony was held for launching construction works on the organization of production of conveyor belts, agricultural and automobile tires. The founders the company are JSC "Uzkimyosanoat" (50%), JSC "Uzavtosanoat" (30%), SE "NMMC" (10%) and JSC "AMMC" (10%).
Today, the process of construction of RPF has entered the final stage, the assembly of equipment and commissioning works are carried out at accelerated pace. Their completion is scheduled for November this year.
The first stage of RPF provides for the production of 3 million units of automobile tires, 100 thousand meters of conveyor belts, 200 thousand pieces of agricultural tires, which will lead to a sharp decline in imports of rubber products, the volume of which is estimated at $200 million per year.
(Source: UzReport.uz)

EXPORT

Uzkimyoimpex established in Uzbekistan
Uzkimyoimpex, which will be an agent for export-import operations in the chemical industry, is established in Uzbekistan.
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a resolution “On measures to improve the export and import activities of chemical industry organizations” on 29 August 2017.
The new company will promote products of the chemical industry of Uzbekistan in foreign markets, including through wide introduction of a modern logistics system, establishment of trading houses and representative offices abroad with shipment of goods to their addresses on the basis of consignment and other forms of contracts.
The company will take part in tenders, exhibitions, fairs and other events to demonstrate products and promote its sales in foreign markets.
Uzkimyoimpex will purchase equipment, spare parts, components, raw materials and materials for production needs of Uzkimyosanoat.
According to the decree, Uzkimyoimpex will protect products of chemical companies of Uzbekistan from unfair competition, including through use of trademarks and other intellectual property.
The company will attract foreign companies to carry out processing operations (tolling) on the territory of Uzbekistan in order to effectively use the free production capacities of the organizations of Uzkimyosanoat.
The document said that from 1 October 2017, Uzkimyosanoat will carry out exports of chemical products and from 1 January 2018 – import of equipment, spare parts, components, raw materials and materials for the production needs of the organizations of Uzkimyosanoat.
It added that Uzkimyoimpex will receive 2% commission fee from export operation from the value of contract and 1% commission fee for importing equipment, spare parts, components, raw materials and materials from the contract sum.
(Source: UzDaily.com)

BUSINESS CLIMATE

Farms and machine-tractor fleets in five districts of the Tashkent region will receive preferential terms for leasing agricultural machinery
The decision was made for timely and high-quality agrotechnical works, as well as for better provision of mechanized services to agricultural producers.
The machinery equipping program has included Akkurgan, Bekabad, Buka, Kuyichirchik and Chinaz districts of the Tashkent region.
Scheduled for three years ahead, the supplies will be financed by the State Procurement Fund for Agricultural Products and Agricultural Equipment under the Cabinet of Ministers, as well as loans of commercial banks and private funds of agricultural enterprises.
Funds for purchasing equipment for leasing will be allocated at a rate not exceeding 2% per annum. At the same time, Uzagroleasing will provide the lessees of the Tashkent region with specific contracts conditions: the repayment period for farms is up to 12 years, for machine and tractor fleets - up to 10 years.
The capacity of the agricultural machinery market in Uzbekistan is estimated at 10,000 units per year, including about 5,000 tractors and about 500 combines. At the same time, the potential capacity of the JSC Tashkent Tractor Plant (TTP), the country’s largest manufacturer, remains at the level of 12,000 tractors a year, while the real output does not exceed 2,500 machines per year. The annual import of equipment, mainly from Russia and China, is about 1,000-1,500 items per year.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

TECHNOLOGIES

Uzbekistan: maximum openness
A ‘Program on the introduction of up-to- date information and communication technologies in the activities of courts for 2017-2020’ has been approved in Uzbekistan.
The document stipulates that the development of IT-technologies in the courts will be carried out in six main directions. The key objective focuses on ensuring the openness, transparency and efficiency of the courts, improvement of quality of the judiciary and the level of people’s access to justice, elimination of the facts of red tape, bureaucracy and abuses by court personnel.
The program is also aimed at automation of operation of the judicial system, enhancement of effectiveness of interaction between the courts and inquiry bodies, preliminary investigation and enforcement bodies, acceleration of paperwork, ensuring of information security and secure electronic document management.
All works will be financed from the Judiciary Development Fund, as well as grants of international financial institutions and donor organizations.
A project on the construction of a specialized room in the ‘Palace of Justice’ complex, equipped with cutting edge equipment and information and communication technologies, promises to rank among the most interesting ones. It will be indented for landmark hearings, which will be held in real time, and attended by any comers.
The new complex will house the Supreme Judicial Council, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Research Center for Justice Problems Study, the Department for the Operation of Courts, the Association of Judges of Uzbekistan and the Academy of Justice.
The document also envisages measures on ensuring information security of a unified corporate network, software products, systems and databases that are implemented in the activities of courts, on integration of the Unified Information System of Justice with information system complexes and central databases of the Electronic Government system. Uzbektelecom JSC will deal with the creation of local computer networks in the courts and the corporate network of the Supreme Court, and their integration into a common system. The software will be developed by the state unitary enterprise Unicon.uz.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Statement of the MFA of the Republic of Uzbekistan
The Government of Uzbekistan will provide humanitarian aid to meet the needs of refugees from Myanmar, the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan said.
The statement said that Uzbekistan is concerned with the situation in Myanmar, especially incoming information about the facts of violence against the Muslim minority in the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Uzbekistan condemns all manifestations of violence and advocates for unswerving provision of every human being with all rights and freedoms regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status
The Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan called upon the Myanmar authorities to take all necessary measures to stop and prevent violence against innocent Muslims, to solve problems exclusively by peaceful means.
The Government of Uzbekistan decided to send humanitarian aid to meet the needs of refugees from Myanmar, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said.
(Source: UzDaily.com)

Delegation of University of Leicester visits Uzbekistan
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — On 11 September 2017, a delegation of the University of Leicester, headed by prorector Sarah Dixon, was received at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, the press service of the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said.
A substantive discussion took place on promising areas of cooperation between one of the leading universities in the UK - the University of Leicester and educational institutions of Uzbekistan in the context of strengthening Uzbek-British relations.
Sarah Dixon noted that the British University and the University of World Economy and Diplomacy signed a memorandum of cooperation on creation of the Leicester Higher School of International Studies under the UWED on 30 May 2017. The school will conduct joint researches in various areas.
The sides also confirmed their interest in further development of inter-university contacts, including the University of Leicester with other universities in Uzbekistan.
(Source: UzDaily.com)

FESTIVELS

Margilan hosts Festival of Traditional Textile “Atlas Bayrami”
The 3rd edition of the Festival of Traditional Textile “Atlas Bayrami” (“Celebrating Atlas”) will be held in Margilan, Ferghana valley, from 15 to 16 September 2017.
The festival is organized by the Government of the Ferghana region and the Municipality of the City of Margilan in close cooperation with the Margilan Crafts Development Centre, the UNESCO Office in Tashkent, the National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for UNESCO, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the “Khunarmand” Crafts Association, the DVV International Branch Office in Uzbekistan and the Association of Cooks of Uzbekistan with the support from Ucell, mobile network and communication provider in Uzbekistan and Law firm COUNCIL.
The main goal of Festival “Atlas Bayrami” is to safeguard and promote the rich intangible cultural heritage as well as support the development of traditional crafts in Uzbekistan. It also contributes to improving the traditional crafts quality and design as well as to attracting (It contributes to both improving and attracting) travellers to discover the region. In addition, the Festival will be organized to help young people and women acquire new knowledge and skills in traditional crafts, thus giving an opportunity to improve the economic and social well-being of the population.
Safeguarding, promotion, and development of traditional crafts are important for the Central Asian region. In this regard, the present Festival will have a wider geographical range: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will also join in the festival. The participation of craftspeople, artists and specialists from these countries will further enrich the festival, provide a profounder experience for the ones involved as well as contribute to the general cooperation in Central Asia through culture. It will offer a great possibility to introduce a wide variety of traditions, styles, patterns, technics and ideas of the region while providing an opportunity for experts to share their knowledge with the concerned audience.
The 3rd edition of the festival will have a colourful programme, starting with practical training sessions for young craftspeople on traditional embroidery, fashion design using traditional textile and felt weaving, as well as financial literacy and entrepreneurship in the field of craftsmanship from 12th to 14th September 2017.
On 15th and 16th September, the following activities will take place:
International Scientific Conference "Traditional Textiles of Central Asia in the Context of Time";
Exhibition of Traditional Textiles “The World of Textile of Central Asia: 21 century”;
Crafts fair of traditional textiles;
Defile/fashion shows with elements of traditional textiles;
Folk festivities, including traditional fighting “Kurash”, rope-walking performance, puppet-show; performance of traditional music and dance, the plov contest “Devzira”.
(Source: Uzdaily.com)

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