The economy of independent Uzbekistan now has become an integral part of the global economy. Each year the country increases its export potential and successfully shifts the structure of the supplies to foreign markets from raw materials to finished products with high added value.

As the head of state noted in his speech the turmoil processes occurred in the global markets, could not pass without affecting the performance of our economy during the last year and can heavily impede the achievement of the planned growth rates of Uzbek economy in 2012.

Despite this, the country has achieved impressive results in 2011, which have been highly appreciated by authoritative international financial institutions including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and others.

In its statement on the results of the last evaluation mission the International Monetary Fund notes that Uzbekistan has achieved dynamic growth and coped well with the global financial crisis…

The mission’s projections about Uzbekistan's 8.3% GDP growth for 2011 proved to be right. Also, during the 2000-2011, the volume of GDP has increased 2.1 times; on this indicator Uzbekistan is among the fastest growing economies in the world.

During the governmental meeting it was pronounced that last year the industrial production expanded by 6.3%, agriculture by 6.6%, retail turnover by 16.4%, paid services by 16.1%. The volume of drawn investments grew by 11.2%. The state budget was executed with a surplus of 0.4% of GDP. Inflation has not exceeded the anticipated figures.

Rapidly developing industries became real locomotives of economic growth. Machinery and automobiles added 12.2%, chemicals and petrochemistry rose by 9.4%, the sector of construction materials increased by 11.9% food industry grew by 13.1%, pharmaceutics and furniture augmented by 18%.

It is noteworthy that in the head of state’s report, the data on economic growth were presented in comparison with 2000. It allows to clearly see the dynamics of the development and the scale of achievements over the past decade.

Thus, if to compare the volume of consumer goods production in 2011, which by the way increased last year by 11.2%, to the volume of 2000 it will be seen that the production has risen to more than 4 times. The volume of exports rose 4.6 times comparing to 2000, with 15.4 percent growth in 2011. Trade surplus in turnover exceeded $4.5 billion. The share of finished goods in overall exports rose to 60%, whereas in 2000 it amounted to about 46%.

The fact that since 2005, the state budget is being implemented with a surplus is distinct confirmation of Uzbekistan’s economy’s sustainable and balanced development.

Positive changes are taking place in the financial and banking areas of ​​the country. At the cabinet meeting the President noted with satisfaction that authoritative international rating agencies such as Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Ratings described, for the second consecutive year, the banking system of Uzbekistan as ‘stable’, and the number of commercial banks, in the Republic, possessing such ranking increases from year to year. If in 2010, only 15 commercial banks in the country were rated as ‘stable’, today their number has reached 23; their assets comprise more than 98% of the total assets of the country’s entire banking system.

Uzbekistan’s banks are actively involved in the rehabilitation of insolvent companies. To date, the production activities have been restored at 156 out of 164 bankrupt enterprises transferred to the banks, 110 enterprises were sold to new investors. The commercial banks invested 275 billion soums on technical re-equipment and modernization of the enterprises, which allowed to create more than 22,000 jobs.

In general, active investment policy and implementation of major investment projects on modernization, technical and technological re-equipment of the most important sectors of the economy and on the development of transport and communications infrastructure have allowed to increase the volume of drawn capital investments by 11.2%. 1,006 new production facilities were commissioned; the implementation of 144 large investment projects was completed.

The works done under the state program "Year of small business and entrepreneurship" have yielded fruitful results in establishing favorable business environment. They facilitated to increase small businesses’ share in GDP to 54%, in 2011, while it was 52.5% in 2010.

Commonly, in Uzbekistan, much attention is paid to the social sphere. 2011 was not an exception. During last year, 166 schools were built and repaired in the country. 151 schools have undergone thorough complete overhauls, some 46.3 thousand new pupil seats, equipped with modern teaching and laboratory equipment, were created.

As was noted at the Cabinet meeting, according to governmental decree, over 277 billion soums are planned to be spend on the implementation of the program of modernization of material-technical capacities of higher education institutions and radical improvement of specialists’ training, designed for 2011-2016. To accumulate means and to finance the outlined Program, last year, a special Fund was created. In 2011 over 39 billion soums from this Fund have already been taken to finance the planned activities.

Actions taken to employ graduates of colleges and high schools became important factors in the process of care for the younger generation. The contracts, between colleges and businesses according to which the future graduates pass practical training at the enterprises with their subsequent hiring, became customary. As part of these arrangements more than 390 thousand graduates have been employed. By the way, the actions allowed to optimize the preparation of called-for specialists.

The work to further reform and develop the health system was carried out consistently and deliberately. Last year, in tote, 137 billion sums and $136 million of state budget means, attracted favorable foreign loans and grants were directed on the reconstruction of medical facilities and equipping them with modern laboratories, diagnostic and medical technologies. In tote, over the past ten years the country has spend on the development of healthcare over $750 million taken from the budget funds and attracted favorable foreign loans and grants.

Thanks to drastic measures taken to reform and develop the healthcare system, over the past ten years the country achieved significant reduction in overall morbidity. The progress achieved in Uzbekistan in public health received deserved assessment from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and from other authoritative international organizations, during international symposium ‘The national model of maternal and child health in Uzbekistan: Healthy mother - healthy child’ held last year in Tashkent.

In 2011, the country continued the process of comprehensive construction of new residential areas and creation of modern infrastructure in rural areas. Last year, 7.4 thousand new homes on type designs were build in 156 rural areas, with soft loans from Qishloq Qurilish Bank.

The measures taken to completely meet the parameters of the 2011 Program on creating jobs and increasing employment led to the establishing of about 1 million jobs, 68 percent of them set in rural areas.

At the Cabinet meeting, special attention was paid to the priority areas of socio-economic development of Uzbekistan for 2012. As it was noted, the main indicators of the country's economy’s development and its leading industries are aimed in 2012 at maintaining high and sustainable rates of growth, further strengthening of macroeconomic stability. It is planned that GDP will grow by 8.2%, industrial production will rise by 8.6%, agriculture by 5.8%.

The analysis of the state budget for 2012 shows its distinct social inclination. It is scheduled to send over 60% of the budget on the social sphere. It is envisaged to significantly reduce the tax burden, especially for small businesses and private entrepreneurships. The rate of single tax payment for them is reduced from 6 to 5 percent. The minimum tax rate on personal income has been reduced from 10 to 9 percent; primarily, this should significantly result on raising the incomes of low-paid categories of workers.

Capital investments directed on the development of the economy will rise significantly this year. Their growth rates should increase to 109.3 percent comparing to the past year, while their GDP share widen to 24.5%.

The government was set before an important task of enhancing the competitiveness of the economy.

The relevance and importance of setting this goal are dictated primarily by the main strategy we have put to ourselves, at this stage, to bring our economy in the medium term to the level of developed democratic countries, emphasized President Islam Karimov in this regard.

The growth of foreign investments illustrates the rising interest and confidence of foreign capital in the safety and soundness of the country’s economy. In 2012, the volume of foreign investments and attracted loans will increase by 16 percent, amounting to over $3.3 billion, including more than 2.3 billion dollars of direct foreign investments.

According to the Program of priority measures on increasing production and the development of new types of competitive products, during 2012-2016 it is planned to implement more than 270 investment projects, with estimated costs of $6.2 billion, as well as to fulfill sectoral programs of modernization, technical and technological re-equipment of the production.

Special attention will be paid to ensure the outstripping development of service industries. It was noted at the meeting that considerable unused reserves for growth and expansion of services are preserved today in construction, transport, finance, banking, information and communication sectors, as well as in medical and general domestic services to the population, especially in rural areas.

The key priority of 2012 is to ensure rapid development of transport and engineering infrastructure. In particular, it is planned to accelerate the projects of construction and reconstruction of roads, belonging to Uzbek national highway. Appreciating the strategic importance of upgrading the highway, not only for Uzbekistan but for the entire region also, the international financial institutions - the Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, members of Arab Coordination Group - actively participate in the project.

It is planned to continue the development of Navoi International Intermodal Logistics Center, which will increase the international transit of goods and expand its route network.

The President stressed that the 2012 Program on creating jobs and increasing employment approved by Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan should remain in the highlight. It provides for the creation of over 967 000 jobs, 600 thousand of which in the countryside.

At the same time, the job placement of graduates from vocational colleges and lyceums, whose number this year exceeds 500,000 people, deserves the most serious attention.

The results of 2011 and the program of socio-economic development for 2012 indicate dynamic and stable development of Uzbekistan, and the growth of its economic potential.

Creating new jobs, supporting entrepreneurship’s initiatives, ensuring employment of population all these are priority of the state policy in our country. The main goal is to enhance the well-being of each family and the people of Uzbekistan as a whole. The parliament pays great attention to this urgent issue. Each year the country adopts Program on creating new jobs and providing employment. Under this program, the relevant ministries and local hokimiats (regional authorities) are assigned with responsibility to create new jobs and attract people to labor, creating conditions for implementing entrepreneurial ideas, basing on the peculiarities of the areas and industries.

It is widely known that within the framework of the Program on creation new jobs and ensuring public employment for 2012, it is planned to provide more than 960 thousand new jobs. This means that there will be conditions for thousands of families to strengthen their wellbeing, so that honestly working people can earn good money and raise their standard of living. From our side, the deputies will monitor and work together with local authorities, Kengash (Council) of People's Deputies, enterprises and organizations in order to fulfill the assigned tasks.

The year 2011 was marked with onward development of Uzbek-Russian relations. Despite the continuing instability of the global economy, the trade and economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and Russia continue to grow rapidly. By the volume of bilateral trade with Russia Uzbekistan is in fourth place among the CIS countries, and Russia is ranked the first in terms of turnover among all trade partners of Uzbekistan. According to State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, the volume of Uzbek-Russian trade turnover in the period of January-September 2011 amounted to $4.6 billion. In tote, exports of Uzbekistan to Russia over this period estimated at $2.9 billion, while the imports from Russia were $1.7 billion. The dynamic development of trade and economic relations is being demonstrated not only by fuel and energy complex, information-communication technologies, but also by industry, aviation and rail communications.

Strong impetus to bilateral cooperation was given by the thirteenth session of the Intergovernmental Commission, which reviewed the progress of implementation the Action Plan for Programme of Economic Cooperation between the governments of Russia and Uzbekistan in 2008-2012.

For the last 20 years the railroad industry of Uzbekistan has passed a long way. Today, enterprises of the company produce modern locomotives and wagons, lay new steel lines using innovative technologies. The first, in Central Asian, high-speed rail route, Tashkent-Samarqand, put into operation last year demonstrated not only the industry’s great progress, but also showed the capacities of domestic rail transport, which now is on the leading positions in the region.

Railway employees pay much attention to rolling stock’s modernization and expansion of the park with modern machineries. The enterprises of Uzbekistan Railways mastered serial production of passenger and freight wagons. Cars and carriages are being retrofitted in accordance with modern requirements. In tote, last year, the company upgraded 44 sections of locomotives, 1,430 freight and 57 passenger cars. With governmental support the SJSRC launched the investment project of upgrading passenger locomotives, which plans to buy 15 passenger locomotives. The project implementation will significantly reduce the time spent on transit through increasing train speeds from 100 to 160 kilometers per hour.

Another important area of the company’s development is the construction, rehabilitation and electrification of railway lines. In implementation of the program on accelerating the construction of transport and communications infrastructure for 2011-2015, over $2 billion will be spend on the railway sector according to the plan.

Health care workers of Surkhondaryo region will remember the last year for the large-scale work done on development of medical institutions. Renovation and construction operations were carried out in fourteen health care facilities, more than half of which are located in rural areas and remote settlements. In particular, the construction of two new buildings was continued at our center, where we will place all surgical departments.

Regional medical units and regional diversified centers are being equipped with modern medical technologies. For example, in near future, roentgenologic service at our center will be considerably enhanced. Now we have CT-scan and X-ray apparatus. In the near future we will get magnetic resonance tomography scanner. We will obtain 91 different items of equipment and stocks that will replace obsolete equipment and tools. This will allow us to raise the treatment to a new level.

Our physicians strive to learn the advanced diagnostic and treatment methods. We are proud of our Department of Vascular and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ophthalmology. I can tell a lot about each department and our each specialist on his innovation activity. For example, data on Oman Rakhmanova - head of Ophthalmology Department- were included in the bibliography, handbook ‘Who is Who in the World’.

Today, our physicians provide comprehensive methodological support to specialists of regional medical units, we actively participate in monthly led health improvement weeks for women of childbearing age, adolescents and children. Our doctors go to the most remote villages and consult local people, and, if necessary, help to organize the treatment in major regional and national clinics.

New incentives for development

Gulruh Umarova, entrepreneur, Namangan:

I sew very different clothes from jogging suits to ball gowns, for children and adults. Kids want to dress as beautifully and fashionably as adults, so I pay special attention to children's clothes. In the future, I want to open wedding salon, where gowns for brides will be tailored from my own designs. And this dream is not far off. Today, in our country, all doors are opened to entrepreneurs; they can quickly register their businesses, receive loans without any problem, submit tax accounts over the Internet and much more.

It is very important that each year the tax burden on the private sector is reducing. This encourages entrepreneurial people to invest the freed capital on the business’s development, and thus, to create new jobs, and provide public with quality products. During the past year, much has been done to support small business and entrepreneurship in Uzbekistan. The results of the year show that these efforts affected the business community: private sector’s share in GDP is raising, as well as in exports and employment.

As a result of implementation of a number of promising projects on further development and modernization the telecommunications networks, the country’s communication infrastructure has improved significantly over the last year. Across the country, at regional centers, all obsolete analogue telephone exchanges stations were replaced with modern digital ones. High-speed digital communication channels from fiber-optic have been set up. Now specialists expand the net and improve reliability of the system. Created infrastructure provides framework for rapid development of wireless technologies, mobile phones in particular.

Among the successful projects of the past year is the completion of national network "e-education." It brings together universities and their branches in a single high-speed corporate network based on fiber-optic communication lines.

Another example of information technologies’ rapid development in Uzbekistan is the dynamic growth of the number of Internet users and mobile subscribers, as well as of associated infrastructure. Now, for example, the Uzbek segment of the Internet has 13 500 active domains.

Another important area of IT-industry’s development, at the current stage, is to implement its best ideas and technological solutions in the work of public agencies, and the creation of the so-called e-government on the basis of domestic software. Today, almost all ministries and departments have their own websites, where visitors have a variety of interactive services. According to a decree of the Cabinet of Ministers, the number of online government services has become 94. Today, specialists work to increase such services to 155. On the basis of the approved basic online public services, 384 types of services are available online.

Farmers are the real owners of the land today; they are interested in the results of their work and make significant contribution to the improvement of people's welfare. Governmental support has played a major role in the development of farming. Specialized fairs are held across the country where we can see needed farm machineries. Farmers learn new agricultural techniques at specially organized seminars. If previously, we bought agricultural machineries mainly for cultivation and planting purposes, now we buy the equipment for processing of agricultural products; we have transformed from the producers of raw materials to the manufacturers of products with more in-depth processing.

Over a hundred men are currently working in our farm. We have received $160 thousand in loan and bought equipment for milk processing. Our machinery can process up to 3 tons of milk per day. Now, dairy products – yogurt, cream, cheese – are sold at our special stores.