October 24, 2013

 

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov arrived October 24 in the city of Minsk that is due to host a regular session of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of the Heads of State.

President Islam Karimov is to take part in contracted- and extended-format meetings among leaders of CIS member nations who are to discuss the current state and prospects of multifaceted cooperation within the Commonwealth and exchange views on pressing issues of regional and international affairs.

Ever since the CIS was founded, Uzbekistan has been involved in the activities of principal statutory bodies of the Organization, and has advocated enhancement of economic integration and preservation of extensive opportunities for mutually advantageous bilateral and multilateral interaction. 

The CIS summit meeting's major events are scheduled for October 25.

October 25, 2013

 

Delegations of intelligence and law enforcement agencies responsible for combating terrorism representing member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) discussed cooperation in combating the international terrorism and extremism, in Tashkent on Friday.

"Holding of the first such a conference on the issues of struggling against terrorism and extremism is not only a timely, but also an extremely important issue," Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) Zhang Sinfen said at the briefing.

According to him, during the meeting organized by SCO RATS, issues of strengthening cooperation between law enforcement agencies, as well as directions of joint efforts on countering the new threats to security in the regional scale were discussed.

In particular, the participants of the meeting discussed the prospects of development of the situation in Afghanistan taking into account the upcoming withdrawal of International Security Assistance Forces from this country in 2014.

During the conference, the representatives of SCO countries expressed readiness "to constructive cooperation in the issues of maintaining peace and stability in the whole world with international and regional organizations and states which respect goals, tasks and principles of SCO's activity.

They also expressed readiness to activate the practical implementation of provisions of Shanghai convention about the struggle against terrorism, separatism and extremism.

The SCO is an intergovernmental security organization that was founded in 2001. Its members are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status in the SCO. Belarus, Turkey and Sri-Lanka are dialogue partners.

October 25, 2013

 

Economic growth in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) is expected to remain robust, but lower growth in key trading partners such as Russia and China could pose a threat to this outlook, the IMF said in its latest regional assessment.

The IMF's Regional Economic Outlook for the Caucasus and Central Asia, released October 25, projects that growth in the region will average about 6 percent in 2013-14.

This strong growth reflects the expansion of production in hydrocarbons and other extractive industries as well as firm growth in domestic demand, supported by stable remittance inflows, the report says.

"The favorable outlook presents an opportunity for the region to begin the structural transformation into dynamic emerging economies," said Juha Kähkönen, Deputy Director of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Department, who unveiled the report in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

 

Expansion continues...

Growth for the region's oil- and gas-exporting countries-Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan-is projected to pick up slightly, to about 6 percent in 2013 and 6.2 percent in 2014 (see table). This growth is driven mainly by the recovery in oil and gas production in Kazakhstan and elsewhere.

For the oil- and gas-importing countries-Armenia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan-growth is set to slow to about 5 percent in 2013 before rising to about 5½ percent in 2014, if private investment and external demand pick up as expected.  [Read full report here]

October 22, 2013

 

The Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved provision of a loan to Uzbekistan in the amount of $200 million to finance housing construction in rural areas of the country, representative of ADB office in Tashkent told Trend on Tuesday.

According to the source, the funds were allocated under the program of multi-tranche financing of housing construction in rural areas of Uzbekistan in the amount of $ 500 million.

This is the second tranche allocated under the program. It is expected that the loan agreement between ADB and the Government of the Republic will be signed by late 2013.

As reported, in August 2011 ADB approved a program of multitranche financing of housing construction in rural areas of Uzbekistan in the amount of $ 500 million. Credit funds under the program of multitranche financing are allocated from the regular resources of the bank.

The first tranche of $ 200 million was approved in September 2011. The funds were provided for a period of 18 years, including a three-year grace period at a discount lending rate based on LIBOR.

ADB loan funds will be refinanced through Uzbek banks participating in the program.

October 25, 2013

 

Uzbekistan's state oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz in 2014 will implement projects totaling nearly $190 million to utilize associated petroleum gas at oil fields in the Kashkadarya region in the south of the country, the company said.

"Until the end of this year the company will finalize contracts for equipment supply and construction and technological works will start in the beginning of next year," a source in the company said. 
Two projects will install equipment to utilize 1.14 billion cubic meters of associated gas a year at seven oil and gas condensate fields. The projects will be financed by Uzbekneftegaz and through foreign loans. 
According to Uzbekneftegaz, the company annually produces about 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas and burns more than 1.5 billion cubic meters in torches. Over the last four years, the volume of burned associated gas has been reduced by 3.5 billion cubic meters. 
It was earlier reported that Uzbekneftegaz planned to increase the level of associated gas utilization to 95 percent by the end of 2015, compared to 40 percent today. 
The Uzbek government has also instructed Uzbekneftegaz to submit proposals for introducing technology for generating electricity with associated gas. 
Uzbekneftegaz has capacities for producing 70 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 8 million tons of liquid hydrocarbons a year.