Consultations on the concept, the framework of coverage and content of the Project to Increase Jobs and Improve Skills in the Context of a Modern Economy have been held in the course of negotiations between the World Bank delegation and the leadership of the Ministry of Labor of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The World Bank assignment group led by the head of the country desk Jan-Peter Olters included the senior social development specialist Robert Wrobel, senior economist Mohamed Ihsan Ajwad, senior specialist on employment and social protection Al-Ahmadi and the head of the Bank’s Program on Trade and Competition K.Miller.
During the meeting with the Minister of Labor Aziz Abduhakimov, the delegation held consultations on the Project to Increase Jobs and Improve Skills in the Context of a Modern Economy, implemented within the Strategy of Country Partnership with Uzbekistan for 2016-2020.
The discussion was about the tendencies in the labor market development in Uzbekistan. The Uzbek minister informed the guests about the efforts undertaken form the annual demand to create jobs and provide employment on the basis of demographic trends, the real situation on the labor market in each province, maximizing the use of available internal resources and capacities of the local economy to create new jobs.
Assigning priorities, the parties to talks identified issues to stimulate the development of private entrepreneurship and small business in Uzbekistan, which provide for the greatest increase in new jobs and are a crucial factor for employment of the population. In this regard, as Aziz Abduhakimov noted, enhancement of small business capacities and their funding constitute a pressing objective for the Uzbek government, and one of the options in this respect is to attract additional funding resources from international financial institutions.
In addition, the discussion included the activities of recruitment agencies, who may expand the scope of services provided for employment and secure supplementary employment.
The delegation of the World Bank was informed about the works underway for the creation of new jobs in the regions, ensuring employment of college graduates, persons of vulnerable groups, new approaches to conducting job fairs, the introduction of modern information and computer technologies in the employment process.
The parties agreed to continue the discussion of the basic concepts of specific components, and consider the possibility of accelerating the project implementation.
The delegation held talks at the ministries of economy and finance, as well as the Commerce and Industry Chamber of Uzbekistan.
