The priority areas for expanding cooperation between Uzbekistan and foreign investors were listed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in his speech at the opening of the III Tashkent International Investment Forum, Gazeta.uz reports.
These included such areas as the extraction and processing of minerals, including rare earth metals, as well as the banking and financial sector.
Another direction is “green” energy. Mirziyoyev noted that work is currently ongoing in the country on 28 energy sector projects.
“We have set a goal by 2030 to create more than 20 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity and increase its share in the energy balance to 40%,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Just last year, with the companies Masdar (UAE), Gezhouba and China Energy (China), Uzbekistan launched large wind and solar power plants with a capacity of 1.4 GW. Together with ACWA Power, the country has begun implementing a project to produce green hydrogen.
“It is noteworthy that these important projects are being implemented exclusively through foreign direct investment on the basis of public-private partnerships,” the president said.
Mirziyoyev noted that within the framework of the forum, projects for the joint construction of hydroelectric power stations in neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will be presented to investors. He invited leading companies from all countries to dialogue and cooperation in this direction.
In mid-April, it was reported that Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan would create a joint company to build the Kambarata hydroelectric power station on the Naryn River. After the implementation of the project, the cost of which is estimated at $5-6 billion, the shares and assets of the station will become the property of Kyrgyzstan. In June 2022, construction began on the 140 MW Yavan hydroelectric power station on the Zarafshan River in Tajikistan.
The areas of cooperation also include the digital transformation of the country. The President of Uzbekistan noted that over the year, Uzbekistan’s exports of IT services and software products have doubled, and in the future it is planned to increase this figure to $5 billion.
“We expect to increase the number of residents of the IT park by 10 times, creating 100 thousand jobs. To attract foreign companies, an International Center for Digital Technologies is being created on the basis of the IT park,” Mirziyoyev said.
He also announced the creation, together with Data Volt of Saudi Arabia, of a data center powered by “green” energy.
“We believe that this will serve as a powerful impetus for our country’s transition to a digital economy and the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies,” said the Uzbek President.
Another priority of Uzbekistan is the development of transport infrastructure.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev recalled that, together with potential foreign investors, projects are being prepared for the development of international airports in Tashkent, Bukhara and Urgench, as well as the construction of new ones.
The leader of Uzbekistan invited investors and international organizations to join Uzbekistan and foreign partners in the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railways.
“These strategic projects will radically change the geo-economic situation in the region, turning Central Asia into a global transit center connecting North and South, East and West,” he said.
At the end of his speech, Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized: “The new Uzbekistan is a fair, secular, dynamically developing state, a country with enormous opportunities.”
He assured investors: “In the implementation of every initiative and every project, my team will be your support, it will directly provide all the necessary assistance.”
CentralasianLIGHT.org
May 2, 2024