Economic results for the first half of the year and priorities for the rest of the year were discussed

On July 17, under the chairmanship of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a video conference meeting was held to analyze the rate of economic growth in regions and industries in the first half of the year, as well as discuss priority tasks until the end of the year, the press service of the head of our state reports.

The head of state announced the results achieved. Over the six months of this year, gross domestic product grew by 6.4 percent. Industry grew by 7.8, construction – by 10.1, services – by 12.9, agriculture – by 3.8 percent. Budget revenues reached 113 trillion soums, an increase of 14 percent.

In general, since the beginning of the year, the added value created in the republic reached 567.4 trillion soums, that is, 45.1 billion dollars. This is the first time such an indicator has been recorded.

Over the past period, total capital investments amounted to 229 trillion soums. Of this, $15.5 billion is foreign investment. Investments in Andijan, Bulakbashi, Karakul, Karmaninsky, Davlatabad districts, the cities of Namangan and Samarkand exceeded $100 million, and in Sharaf-Rashidovsky, Farish, Yanginamangan, Akhangaran districts – $70 million.

Since the beginning of the year, 3 thousand projects worth $3.5 billion have been launched, 76 thousand high-paying permanent jobs have been created. 82 trillion soums of loans and 15.5 trillion soums of subsidies have been allocated for entrepreneurship; 600 thousand people are involved in business. Thanks to preferences and benefits, entrepreneurs have 56.3 trillion soums left at their disposal.

Reforms in the field of ‘‘green’’ energy have also begun to produce results. Due to the launch of 10 solar and wind power plants with a capacity of 2.4 gigawatts, 1.6 billion kilowatts of “green” energy were generated in the first half of the year. This allowed saving half a billion cubic meters of gas.

This year alone, 31.5 trillion soums have been allocated from the budget for the improvement of mahallas, improving the infrastructure of kindergartens, schools, medicine, roads, water and electricity supplies. An additional 1.5 trillion soums will be allocated.

Over the past six months, 18.6 thousand new housing units have been built and delivered. About 7 trillion soums of mortgage loans were allocated to 26 thousand families. 545 billion soums of subsidies have been allocated to cover the down payment and interest.

The head of state emphasized the need to analyze existing problems and identify specific plans and tasks.

– Despite the difficult situation in the world, we are achieving concrete results on the path to sustainable economic growth. This is recognized by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, heads of partner states, rating organizations, and major investors. But today it will be useful to point out the shortcomings and identify specific tasks for using reserves, – said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

First of all, issues of economics, finance, taxation, support for entrepreneurship and poverty reduction were discussed.

As a result of experiments in Saykhunabad, Uychi, Zarbdor and Gijduvan, over six months, more than 4 thousand mahallas were specialized in industry and agriculture, 1 million 600 thousand people became officially employed, and 712 thousand new income tax payers appeared.

The meeting identified measures to give these processes a new impetus. In particular, now district khokims, bank heads and mahalla chairmen will enter into a tripartite agreement on joint work. Until December 1 of this year, based on the Saykhunabad experience, households will be offered a financial package. This will provide employment to 495 thousand people. In the second half of the year, the coverage of the ‘‘Family Entrepreneurship’’ program will be increased by 1.5 times, and 4 trillion soums will be allocated within its framework.

According to the Uychinsky experience, district khokims and bank managers will meet with entrepreneurs and help them expand their business. At the same time, the khokim will resolve issues of access to land, electricity, water, roads and other infrastructure, and the bank will resolve issues of financing. It was noted that this would provide employment to 670 thousand people by the end of the year.

Based on the Gijduvan experience, multi-storey industrial buildings will be built in a thousand mahallas by the end of the year. Production organized in households will be moved there. Entrepreneurs operating on the upper floors of these buildings will be given tax breaks. This will create conditions for the withdrawal of 140 thousand jobs from the shadow sector.

Based on the Zarbdor experience, driver projects will be implemented in the areas of industry, trade, services and modern agricultural technologies. An additional 500 billion soums will be allocated for their implementation this year. This will create another 150 thousand jobs.

The Prime Minister was instructed to approve a plan to ensure employment of 2 million 416 thousand people by region by the end of the year using the above four experiences.

The issue of ensuring budget revenues was also considered. The importance of increasing tax revenues by assisting enterprises and entrepreneurs and increasing their income was emphasized. Responsible persons are strictly warned about the inadmissibility of collecting payments and fees from entrepreneurs in excess of what is required.

Weak implementation of the privatization program and slow efforts to reduce costs at large enterprises were noted.

It was emphasized that now benefits and subsidies will be provided to entrepreneurs for one year, subject to the achievement of a target; they will be extended or terminated depending on the result.

This year, regional enterprises produced products worth 164 trillion soums. However, in the city of Kagan, Karaulbazar, Zafarabad and Mirzaabad districts, industry has decreased. The responsible persons have been tasked with restoring full-fledged activities of 2 thousand enterprises by the end of the year.

Disciplinary sanctions were applied to 28 khokims of districts and cities who committed systemic shortcomings in their activities. The khokims of Karauzyak, Takhiatash, Uchkuduk, Tashkent, Furkat, Gurlen, Mirzaabad, Yangiaryk, Mingbulak districts and the city of Gazgan were relieved of their duties.

Next on the agenda of the meeting were issues of transport, communications, construction and housing and communal services.

The issue of reducing construction costs is analyzed. It is noted that in addition to land and building materials, the cost is influenced by difficulties in coordinating the project and obtaining special technical conditions. It is indicated that the largest share in the shadow economy falls on construction.

In this regard, the Ministry of Construction has been tasked with updating all procedures that complicate entrepreneurship in the field.

In order to improve quality and strengthen order, the Inspectorate for Control in the Field of Construction and Housing and Communal Services will be transferred to the subordination of the government, its powers will be expanded. Penalties for construction without permission or with deviations from the project will be toughened.

The procedure for entrepreneurs to obtain technical conditions for connecting to electricity and gas supply networks will be digitalized. A system for automated selection of a network connection point will be introduced, eliminating the human factor.

In this year’s Investment Program, 20.5 trillion soums have been allocated for 1,896 projects. In particular, it is planned to build and equip 618 schools, 176 kindergartens, 80 clinics and 67 hospitals.

It is planned to build 2,152 multi-storey buildings and commission more than 100 thousand apartments. And also, improve water supply on 570 thousand hectares, commission 13 thousand kilometers of roads and 195 bridges.

The issues of full implementation of the electronic payment system in public transport and financing of passenger transportation on the basis of a gross contract in all regional centers were also touched upon.

The head of state separately focused on each of these areas and gave instructions to speed up projects whose implementation is delayed. People should feel the results of this socially significant work, the President emphasized.

Issues of investment, export and agriculture were also discussed in detail at the meeting.

Over the past six months, $15.5 billion of foreign investment has been invested in the economy, of which $14 billion is direct. The President drew attention to their performance.

Every dollar of foreign investment created an average of three dollars of added value over three years. Or every $1,000 of foreign investment increased tax revenue by an average of $600. However, in some industries and regions this figure is low.

Responsible persons have been instructed to carefully analyze the effectiveness of projects planned for the next year.

The need for speedy installation and commissioning of 593 pieces of equipment worth $183 million that were imported in the past was highlighted. Measures have been identified to accelerate the launch of protracted investment projects and solve their problems.

This year, 1.5 trillion soums have been allocated for the infrastructure of industrial zones. In addition, banks have an available resource of $650 million from the Fund for Reconstruction and Development, as well as $1 billion raised from abroad. The need for effective use of these funds and acceleration of project implementation was noted.

Over six months, production under the localization program increased by 34 percent. The task has been set to increase the share of domestic products in large investment projects.

In this regard, regional khokims and industry leaders have been instructed to analyze 200 large projects worth $50 billion in the regions and develop a program for the localization of goods and services. The importance of intensifying the participation of regional enterprises in the cooperation portal was emphasized.

During the analysis of export rates, it was noted that since the beginning of the year, industries and regions have sold products worth $8.7 billion abroad. However, in 9 regions, exports did not reach even half of last year’s figure.

Recently, many countries have established tariff and non-tariff barriers to protect the domestic market. Relevant ministries and departments have been instructed to reach an agreement to mitigate these barriers.

In the first half of this year, exports of fruits and vegetables and food products amounted to $910 million. It was noted that, first of all, it is necessary to sharply increase the export of processed fruits and vegetables.

Currently, 382 projects have been launched to increase storage, sorting and processing capacity. By the end of the year, it is planned to build 10 agrilogistics centers and refrigerated warehouses for 230 thousand tons. Thanks to this, the capacity of storage facilities for fruits and vegetables will be increased to 63 percent.

The head of state emphasized the need to create new varieties of seeds to increase exports. The Ministry of Agriculture has been tasked with revising the seed production system based on the experience of China and Turkey and expanding the gene bank of crops.

A three-year program will be developed to create industrial gardens and vineyards on 75 thousand hectares of ineffective gardens and 100 thousand hectares of low-yield land. For such gardens, a preferential loan will be allocated through the Agriculture Fund.

The meeting also discussed issues related to the financial sustainability of cotton and textile clusters. It has been determined that the period of the preferential loan provided to them will be extended until April 1, 2025, and the preferential loan for the purchase of cotton this year will be provided to the spinning enterprises of the clusters. The status of economically ineffective clusters with high unfulfilled financial obligations will be revised.

To increase productivity, the task has been set to bring the level of mechanization of cotton and fruit and vegetable growing to 50 percent. To this end, farmers and dekhkans will receive another 6.5 thousand units of equipment by the end of the year.

Heads of the Cabinet of Ministers complexes, ministers and khokims presented reports at the meeting. Plans to ensure economic growth rates for the period until the end of the year were reported.