On February 25, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting to discuss plans for economic development, increasing the number of jobs and attracting investment in the Syrdarya region in 2025, the press service of the head of our state reports.
In recent years, the region has seen some progress in areas such as energy, construction and entrepreneurship. Following last year’s visit of the head of state to the Saykhunabad district, a new model of support for household plots and small business projects was introduced.
However, the lack of initiative on the part of leaders is holding back the development of industry, trade and services. In particular, the share of the service sector in the economy of the Syrdarya region remains the lowest in the country. The poverty rate exceeds 11 percent, the number of unemployed reaches 22 thousand people.
Today, global economic conditions are changing rapidly. In such a situation, those regions that actively study trends, seek new opportunities and effectively use internal resources gain a competitive advantage.
To this end, proposals have been developed to increase investment and improve the business environment in the Syrdarya region, reduce poverty, and effectively use the region’s transit potential.
In particular, it is planned to organize industrial zones with a total area of almost 900 hectares. This will attract $5 billion in investment and create more than 20 thousand new jobs. The projects will be located in Syrdarya, Shirin, Bayavut, Khavast, Mirzaabad, Gulistan, Akaltyn and Sardoba.
Geographically, the region is located in the central part of Uzbekistan, where the international highways M-39, M-34, A-373 and A-376 intersect, along which 311 thousand vehicles travel per day. Entrepreneurs are ready to open hundreds of retail and service outlets along these roads.
In total, it is planned to create 500 thousand square meters of retail and service space, which will provide employment for 50 thousand people.
Due to favorable soil and climate conditions, the region has high potential for growing cotton, rice, fruits and vegetables, and melons. In this regard, the areas for potatoes, onions, raspberries, currants and cherries will be expanded. Processing plants and exporters will be assigned to household plots, field edges and areas adjacent to canals with a total area of 38 thousand hectares.
In addition, in eight districts of the region, it is planned to transfer 25 thousand hectares of land with low profitability for rice cultivation. To support rice farms, they will be allowed to export 50 percent of the harvest.
There are more than a thousand houses in the region built more than 50 years ago. As part of the renovation program, it is planned to build modern residential complexes with a total capacity of 15 thousand apartments in their place. At the same time, the positive experience of the city of Margilan and the Dustlik district will be studied.
To ensure the availability of new housing, developers will be provided with tax and customs benefits. In addition, 100 million dollars will be allocated for the modernization of roads, power grids, housing stock, irrigation infrastructure, renovation of kindergartens, schools and other social facilities in the region.
It was ordered to allocate the necessary funds and complete work on the uninterrupted supply of drinking water to the city of Gulistan by July 1 of this year. Proposals to expand the territory of the cities of Gulistan and Shirin to accelerate urbanization processes were approved.
In general, thanks to the opportunities considered, it is planned to attract 2 billion dollars in investments this year, increasing the volume of exports to 500 million dollars. It is expected that as a result, more than 16 thousand new jobs will be created, and the poverty level will decrease to 7.4 percent.