TASHKENT

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to expand cooperation with Uzbekistan and support projects in energy, health care, preschool education, as well as in the field of waste processing.

The Central Asian country is making efforts to improve its investment climate after more than two decades of economic isolation. The closed, autarkic system viewed most foreign investments as a threat. That ended when Islam Karimov, who had led Uzbekistan since before the Soviet breakup, died in 2016.

Current President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, once a prime minister under Karimov, has made attracting foreign investors one of his top priorities in an increasingly ambitious plan to open Uzbekistan to the outside world.

The ADB officials, who visited the country, praised the current reforms and said that Uzbekistan had ample opportunities to expand the presence of the private sector in various industries.

The issues of a radical expansion of attracting private and foreign investment in the modernisation of basic and social infrastructure by mobilising a wide range of market instruments, including green and infrastructure bonds, as well as financing instruments in national currency, were discussed during meetings in Tashkent.

An agreement was reached to jointly promote an initiative to modernise and operate low-voltage power transmission networks based on PPP mechanisms. The ADB is ready to allocate grant funds to finance the involvement of international consultants for the development of tender and project documentation, as well as to provide technical assistance in the implementation of projects in the electric power industry.

Earlier this year, the ADB and Uzbekistan agreed to implement a project worth $100 million to develop STEM education in the most populous Central Asian country.

STEM education means educating students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

In May, Uzbekistan secured a $100 million long-term loan from the ADB to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the ADB has been working with the government and other development partners to mobilise additional resources to further strengthen Uzbekistan’s health care systems.