GM Uzbekistan, an Uzbek-US joint venture, increased production automobile by 2.1% year-on-year to 221,455 units in 2011.

Last year, the venture produced 28,973 Chevrolet Spark cars, production of which has been launched in August 2010.

In 2011, GM Uzbekistan manufactured 86,200 Nexia cars (-1%), 57,775 Matiz cars (-20.9%) and 20,194 Damas mini-buses (+0.4%).

The enterprise also produced 23,900 units of Chevrolet Lacetti (-0.1%), 1,728 units of Chevrolet Captiva (-5.8%), and 2,675 units of Chevrolet Epica (-16%).

Korea Gas Corp decided to buy a 362.3 billion Korean won (US$323.04 million) stake in a Malaysian registered company, Kor-Uz Gas Chemical Investment Ltd, to participate in a project in Surgil, Uzbekistan.

After the purchase, Korea Gas Corp will hold a 45% stake in the Kor-Uz, while South Korea's Honam Petrochemical Corp will have a 45% and STX Energy will hold a remaining 10%.

In February 2008, Uzbekneftegaz and South Korean consortium created a joint venture UzKorGasChemical for construction of the Ustyurt Gas-Chemical Complex on the base of Surgil deposit. The consortium included Kogas, Lotte Daesan Petrochemical Corp. (in 2009, it was replaced with Honam Petrochemical), LG International Corp., SK Gas and STX Energy.

The project with the cost of USUS$4.1 billion, along with the loans for creditors, will be also financed due to own resources of Uzbekneftegaz for USUS$200 million and loan of the Fund for reconstruction and development of Uzbekistan for US$500 million.

In 2009, Samsung Engineering (South Korea) and Uzbekneftegaz's UzLITIneftegaz developed preliminary feasibility study of technological part of the project, which envisaged construction of the complex with the capacity of 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas and production of 400,000 polyethylene and 100,000 tonnes of polypropylene.

Uzbekneftegaz is conducting gas-field construction of Surgil field with its own forces. The field will annually supply 3 billion cubic meters of gas to the Ustyurt Gas-Chemical Complex. Another 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas will be supplied to the complex from other fields in Ustyurt region.

Surgil field was opened in March 2006 and now it is developed by Uzbekneftegaz. Its reserves, according to the Uzbek side, make up about 120 billion cubic meters of gas.

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov at the Oqsaroy February 16 met with President of the Asian Development Bank Haruhiko Kuroda.  Mr. Kuroda arrived in Uzbekistan to partake in the international conference "Fostering a Well Educated and Intellectually Advanced Generation - Critical Prerequisite of Sustainable Development and Modernization of Country" in progress in Tashkent, UzA reported.

Greeting the guest, Uzbek President noted that the ADB is by right one of the most prominent and influential international financial institutions with which Uzbekistan is tied with long-standing and reliable bonds of partnership.

Testifying to this fact is the bilateral constructive cooperation that has led to Asian Development Bank approving thirty-five joint projects totaling more than US$8.6 billion with ADB funding share exceeding US$3.8 billion.

A special place in Uzbekistan-ADB partnership is attached to interaction in reforming the education system in Uzbekistan whereby eight joint schemes totaling some US$300 million have been executed.

The current state of bilateral relations is distinct with dynamism and a wide spectrum of cooperation areas. The annual growth of ADB operations in Uzbekistan has reached 1 billion dollars within the last few years. In this regard, it is highly symbolic that US$508 million loan agreements for four projects worth US$950 million dollars overall have been signed during ADB President's current visit.

President Karimov has awarded the ADB President Kuroda a high state reward - the order "Buyuk Khizmatlari Uchun" (For Great Services) - for the latter's remarkable contribution to bolstering cooperation between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Asian Development Bank and other international financial institutions, the energetic assistance in executing the socio-economic reform program, the expansion and reinforcement of regional partnership.

ADB President expressed sincere gratitude to the leader of our country for the warm welcome and high attention, and underscored the Asian Development Bank's willingness in boosting its cooperation with Uzbekistan.

At the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the current state of bilateral cooperation, defined priority dimensions of further expanding partnership relations, and discussed enhancing regional cooperation in Central Asia.